Women launch networking group

Two days after Republicans swept midterm elections, some of California’s top female politicians and Silicon Valley’s best-known female executives gathered Thursday night in Atherton to launch a new West Coast high-tech networking group.

IF YOU’RE INTERESTED

For more information, go to http://www.womenshightechcoalition.org

By Mary Anne Ostrom
Mercury News

Democrats Sen. Barbara Boxer and House members Zoe Lofgren and Anna Eshoo joined Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Carly Fiorina, Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz and about 150 others at the inaugural event of the West Coast chapter of the Women’s High-Tech Coalition.

“Today, the name of the game is `working the room’ and building a network,” said Bartz, a Republican, who hosted the event at her home. “Women develop their own careers by fostering and encouraging other women around them,” she said.

Fiorina got hearty applause when she declared: “The old boys network has some negative and deserved connotations. The old boys network is about exclusion. We have to be about inclusion. This is about leveraging power and encouraging others.”

The coalition’s goal is to give a stronger voice to the technology industry’s agenda in Washington and a platform for up-and-coming female valley executives. The coalition itself does not raise political contributions or lobby on specific issues but fosters relationships that can benefit both business and political leaders, organizers said.

Founded in Washington, D.C., in February 2001, the coalition includes high-profile Washington insiders and politicians. San Jose Rep. Lofgren, a national co-chair of the bipartisan group, recently recruited politically active local businesswomen to establish a Silicon Valley chapter.

“We’ve got two women senators, a majority of women in our congressional delegation — it makes sense to have an organization like this,” Lofgren said. “We aren’t always going to agree, but we can be supportive of helping women build technology careers.”

The coalition is helping promote Girls for a Change, a non-profit group that encourages female business leaders to mentor middle-school and high-school girls on community initiatives.

It also seeks to educate female legislators on what Lofgren calls “geeky issues,” ranging from broadband to digital rights.

While the valley has spawned a number of tech-oriented policy and partisan fundraising groups, few specifically promote women.

“That power is dispersed right now,” said Palo Alto Rep. Eshoo. “When you put it all under one tent you increase the power.”

The promise of access to key legislators is what drew Anu Shukla, CEO of San Mateo software start-up RubiconSoft, to join. In the past, she was not drawn to public policy, but Shukla said the debate over corporate governance reforms has engaged her. The accounting treatment of stock options and putting more women on boards of directors are among her top issues.

“Here is a good way to have access and make our voices heard,” she said.

The women-only focus serves another purpose, say some political activists.

“I think they want to show they can crack `the old boys network’ a bit,” said Wade Randlett, a Democratic fundraiser with ties to technology leaders.

The new valley group, he noted, is being formed at a time when the economic downturn has made it more difficult for politicians to collect high-tech campaign contributions and expanding interest in public policy is key to increased fundraising.

IF YOU’RE INTERESTED

For more information, go to http://www.womenshightechcoalition.org

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