├── README.md ├── conferences └── attending.md ├── external_events └── hear_and_now.md ├── getting_started.md ├── internal_events ├── monthly_lunch.md └── monthly_roundtable.md ├── mission_statement.md ├── onboarding └── onboarding_buddy_program.md └── testimonials └── block_womeng.md /README.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # WomEng Handbook 2 | 3 | At Block, we have a strong, supportive, and empowering community of women engineers and allies. We come together as a group: WomEng. Our group grew from a mailing list to regular, in-person gatherings. Today, WomEng expands outside of Block and includes a large network of women engineers. 4 | 5 | We had many conversations and meetings to establish our group and come up with our recurring events. So, to help others start or expand a WomEng group in their community, we're open sourcing a handbook with everything someone needs to get started. 6 | 7 | *** 8 | 9 | ## Introduction 10 | * [Getting Started](getting_started.md) 11 | * [Mission Statement](mission_statement.md) 12 | 13 | ## Onboarding 14 | * [Onboarding Buddy Program](onboarding/onboarding_buddy_program.md) 15 | 16 | ## Internal Events 17 | * [Monthly Lunch](internal_events/monthly_lunch.md) 18 | * [Monthly Roundtable](internal_events/monthly_roundtable.md) 19 | 20 | ## External Events 21 | * [Hear + Now: WomEng Lightning Talks](external_events/hear_and_now.md) 22 | 23 | ## Conferences 24 | * [Attending Conferences](conferences/attending.md) 25 | 26 | ## Testimonials 27 | * [Block WomEng](testimonials/block_womeng.md) 28 | 29 | ## Contributing 30 | Pull requests are welcome. We encourage you to share your own resources and event ideas. Together, we can continue to grow the WomEng community. 31 | 32 | ## Acknowledgements 33 | The first version of this handbook wouldn't be possible without the thoughtful input from these great folks: 34 | 35 | * Alyssa Pohahau ([@arpohahau](https://twitter.com/arpohahau)) 36 | * Vanessa Slavich ([@vslavich](https://twitter.com/vslavich)) 37 | * Lindsay Wiese ([@opazazzyzen](https://twitter.com/opazazzyzen)) 38 | * Timothy Yip ([@tyip](https://twitter.com/tyip)) 39 | * Jenni Snyder ([@jcsuperstar](https://twitter.com/jcsuperstar)) 40 | * Janet Ikpa ([@jikpapa](https://twitter.com/jikpapa)) 41 | 42 | We hope that many more people contribute. 43 | 44 | ## License 45 | 46 | © 2022 Block, Inc. The "WomEng Handbook" is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). 47 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /conferences/attending.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Attending Conferences 2 | 3 | ## Goals 4 | * Recruit women engineers 5 | * Grow awareness of your company/organization 6 | * Strengthen the bond of your WomEng group 7 | 8 | ## How it works 9 | Find a conference that aligns with your WomEng group. Some conferences to consider are: 10 | 11 | * [Grace Hopper](http://ghc.anitaborg.org/) 12 | * [Write/Speak/Code](http://www.writespeakcode.com/conference/) 13 | * [Tech Inclusion](http://techinclusion.co/) 14 | 15 | Once you choose a conference, draft a proposal outlining any resources you'd like from your company/organization for the group to attend. (This may include the conference fee, traveling costs, or swag to pass out at the conference.) If you're successful, enjoy the experience with your WomEng group and be prepared to network. 16 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /external_events/hear_and_now.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Hear + Now: WomEng Lightning Talks 2 | 3 | ## Goals 4 | * Speakers become more comfortable and confident with public speaking. 5 | * Grow the women in engineering community internally and outside your organization. 6 | 7 | ## How it works 8 | 9 | ### Our Format for Talks 10 | * One person from WomEng volunteers to organize the event. This person works with the events team to reserve a space and the IT team to setup any equipment needed. 11 | * There are five talks total: 1-2 engineers from Block and 3-4 guest speakers. 12 | * Ten minutes is allocated per lightning talk with two minutes for transitions. 13 | * Speakers send their slides to the organizer, who compiles them into one slide deck for the tech talk. 14 | 15 | ### Logistics 16 | When planning a lightning talk, several logistics need to be confirmed, including: 17 | * The date and time of the event; 18 | * The location; 19 | * The maximum number of attendees; 20 | * We suggest ⅓ of attendees are from your organization and ⅔ are from external organizations. 21 | * Plan on having only half of the people who RSVP'd show up to the event. So, you can allow up to twice the number of maximum attendees to RSVP. 22 | * The theme of the event; 23 | * We suggest you start off with the theme "Lessons Learned." This is broad enough to include a wide-range of talks. 24 | * And, a plan for finding speakers. 25 | * We ask our WomEng community to reach out to their networks. We also have a speaker form (created through Google Forms), which we send out via social media to find speakers. 26 | 27 | Once all logistics are confirmed, create an invite. At Block, we use [Splash](https://splashthat.com/). Here's an example of a [previous invitation](https://square-womeng.splashthat.com/). 28 | 29 | Note: If you're [interested in speaking](https://docs.google.com/a/squareup.com/forms/d/1O3qRZskidjSzwQKedASasPCqEhiEM3UaMOxRHjOjdHM/viewform) at or attending a future Block Hear and Now event, we'd love to hear from you. 30 | 31 | ### Example Run of Show 32 | * Registration opens: 5:30-6:00pm (communicate that doors close at 6:00pm) 33 | * Doors officially close: 6:30pm 34 | * Intro: 6:15-6:30pm 35 | * Lightning Talks: 6:30-7:30 36 | * 6:30-6:42: Lightning talk 1 (and two minute transition) 37 | * 6:42-6:54: Lightning talk 2 (and two minute transition) 38 | * 6:54-7:06: Lightning talk 3 (and two minute transition) 39 | * 7:06-7:18: Lightning talk 4 (and two minute transition) 40 | * 7:18-7:30: Lightning talk 5 (and two minute transition) 41 | * Audience Q&A for all speakers: 7:30-7:45pm 42 | * Closing thoughts: 7:45-7:50pm (share with the audience a call to action) 43 | * Networking: 7:50-9:00pm 44 | * All guests depart by 9:30pm 45 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /getting_started.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Getting Started 2 | 3 | ## Starting a WomEng group 4 | If you're establishing a WomEng group, congratulations! We recommend following these steps to get up and running: 5 | 6 | * Create a WomEng Google Group. At Block, we use the following: 7 | * Group email: womeng@yourcompany.com 8 | * Group name: Women Engineers and Allies 9 | * Description: WomEng is a strong, supportive, and empowering community of women engineers and allies. You can use this mailing list to share your thoughts, ask questions, and engage in discussions. Our recurring events are new hire buddy program, monthly lunches and roundtables, and quarterly Hear + Now: WomEng Lightning Talks. Those who are part of this mailing list, including allies, are invited to every event. 10 | * Welcome message: Same as description above. 11 | * If you use a chat application (i.e. IRC, Slack, Hipchat), create a channel named "WomEng". 12 | * Channel topic: At Block, we use "women engineers + allies." We also link to an internal wiki page with more info on the group. 13 | * The impact of your group will be magnified if you have an executive sponsor, ideally a senior women in engineering. We are fortunate to have [Alyssa Henry](https://twitter.com/alyssahhenry) as a champion, who is our VP of Engineering. The sponsor could also be an ally. 14 | 15 | Now, invite people and move on to the next step! 16 | 17 | ## Expanding a WomEng group 18 | Evaluate the recurring events your community has currently, and see where new ones could naturally integrate. (Ideas for new events are linked from README.md.) Coordinate with the appropriate people, if needed, to incorporate these programs. For example, at Block, we coordinated with our onboarding team to introduce the WomEng Onboarding Buddy Program into our new-hire orientation program. 19 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /internal_events/monthly_lunch.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Monthly Lunch 2 | 3 | ## Goals 4 | * Create a casual environment for WomEng members to get to know each other in order to strengthen the community. 5 | * Create a trustworthy and supportive WomEng group. 6 | 7 | ## How it works 8 | Find a weekday that works well for most women engineers and allies within your organization and create a recurring calendar invite with a designated location. Gather and enjoy lunch! 9 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /internal_events/monthly_roundtable.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Monthly Roundtable 2 | 3 | ## Goals 4 | * Create a safe environment to hold personal conversations. 5 | * Create a trustworthy and supportive WomEng group. 6 | 7 | ## How it works 8 | First and foremost, create ground rules. Some ground rules from Block's monthly roundtable are: 9 | 10 | * No discussing the topics of conversation or commentary from the monthly roundtable outside of the group. 11 | * When discussing controversial or personal topics, no calling out individuals by name. 12 | 13 | For your first few roundtables, it's best to have a moderator—preferably someone with an objective point of view. The moderator should draft talking points and questions for the group. We found that our first roundtable was a bit awkward, but soon people became comfortable and felt the support of the group. 14 | 15 | Once the group is comfortable with each other, you can move away from having an outside moderator. Instead, consider gathering topics and questions from the group beforehand through a Google Form; have someone from WomEng volunteer to act as the moderator. 16 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /mission_statement.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Mission Statement 2 | 3 | Once your WomenEng group is formed, meet to brainstorm a mission statement. The statement should encompass the purpose of the group. At Block, our mission statement is: 4 | 5 | _To empower women engineers globally by creating a strong and empowering community._ 6 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /onboarding/onboarding_buddy_program.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Onboarding Buddy Program 2 | 3 | ## Goals 4 | * Grow WomEng through new membership. 5 | * Create a strong bond between WomEng members. 6 | 7 | ## How it works 8 | Reach out to women engineers who can be a "buddy" to a newly-hired engineer at your company or organization. You'll want to ask for details from both women that will allow you to make a meaningful match. Details can include their interests, alma mater, hometown, previous company, and the team they work on. The pairing process can be owned by someone in WomEng or consider someone on your new-hire onboarding team. Regardless, the two buddies should be introduced during the new hire's first week. After the first meeting, it's up to the buddy to take initiative. 9 | 10 | At Block, the buddy is encouraged to send a calendar invite for lunch or coffee by the new hire's second week. If you pair people up in different locations, they can also virtually meet via a streaming service. During this first meeting, the buddy talks through the purpose of WomEng and provides information on recurring events and other groups within Block. Most importantly, they get to know each other and the buddy becomes a resource for the new employee. 11 | 12 | ## Calendar invite description template 13 | Hi, \! Welcome to \! I work on the \ team and am excited you're here. I'd love to grab lunch and tell you about our Women in Engineering group (nicknamed WomEng). Please accept if interested. 14 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /testimonials/block_womeng.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Testimonials from Block's WomEng 2 | 3 | > I'm part of a smaller team, so I don't always get to interact with other women engineers on a daily basis. Even so, being involved with Block WomEng means that I never feel alone. Whether we're meeting over lunch to talk about the challenges we face, emailing links to empowering news articles, or chatting on our Slack channel, I feel like I'm a part of an engaged and thriving community of women in engineering (and our allies!). WomEng has helped me to find my voice as a software engineer, fight imposter syndrome, and become more confident in what I bring to the table. Even better, Square WomEng is helping me find ways that I can be a better ally to other underrepresented groups in tech. I'm so glad that I'm starting my career in tech here, as part of this amazing community. 4 | 5 | — Marie Chatfield ([@mariechatfield](https://twitter.com/mariechatfield)) 6 | _Former Software Engineer at Square_ 7 | 8 | 9 | > WomEng is extremely important to me as an engineer. I do not contribute to the Square code base since I work on our People team, and the WomEng group encourages me to continue my learning and pair with senior engineers. I enjoy the lunches, lightning talks, discussions and camaraderie that WomEng provides. WomEng has provided me with a network of women and allies who encourage me to grow as an engineer and find opportunities to gain knowledge that's applicable to my career. 10 | 11 | — Gloria Kimbwala ([@gkimbwala](https://twitter.com/gkimbwala)) 12 | _Former Campus Program Specialist at Square_ 13 | 14 | 15 | > I've really enjoyed being able to participate in WomEng as an ally. It's great to be able to show support for the amazing women engineers at Square and become more aware of the issues they struggle with. We've created a safe space and community, and I'm honored to be a part of it. There's a great energy and passion in the group, and the desire to make things better is strong. As an ally, I feel very welcome, and I feel like I can connect with my colleagues in a much more meaningful way after talking about shared struggles, like imposter syndrome. I would encourage anyone who wants to support diversity in tech to get involved at one of our events! 16 | 17 | — Gabriel Gilder ([@\_gjg\_](https://twitter.com/_gjg_)) 18 | _Former Software Engineer at Square_ 19 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------