The WomenBuild program incorporates a hands-on process that draws on the power of creative thinking to shift group conversation from talking heads to focused minds. Each team will be run as a facilitated conversation with physical Lego brick constructions that will powerfully shift a group to more productive outcomes by accomplishing a deeper mining of the diverse wisdom within the group and a clearer shared conclusion on inspirational career paths for women in the technical field. Through this workshop, attendees will share real life experiences, discuss challenges, network & build on-going relationships with other women who are attending the PDC conference. Ultimately, attendees of this workshop will find ways to unleash their creative thinking and transform ideas into concrete concepts.

In this workshop, attendees will participate in an environment of rich, interactive experiences by modeling real-life business challenges and solutions with LEGO® Bricks as part of the LEGO® Serious Play Program (LSP). WomenBuild will open your minds to exciting and inspirational ideas on how to be a thought leader in the technical field. We will work together in small groups to brainstorm and problem solve in a collaborative and productive way. You will work with people in various responsibility areas in teams. This way each role can impart their own unique perspective to the group, while collectively creating shared understandings that direct future activity effectively. WomenBuild workshops are not exclusive to women, as these topics apply both to men and women.

Since the fall of 2008, we’ve run events WomenBuild events in the following cities: in Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, Boston, Washington DC, Orlando, Dallas, San Francisco . The WomenBuild workshop ran as part of the PDC (Professional Developers Conference) and MSDN Developer Conference (MDC).

Microsoft took the findings and suggestions from these 11 cities and reviewed them at TechReady8, an internal Microsoft conference held in Seattle, February 1st as part of their own internal WomenBuild event! Over a hundred Microsoft women employees took time to prioritize the top suggestions provided during PDC & MDC and design solutions to address these needs. These solutions will serve as a call to action on what Microsoft can do to help address issues such as:
o Lack of accessibility and visibility of female leader roles in software industry
o Proclivity towards math/science/technology is not encouraged for girls early on in academic institutions
o Technology/computer science appears dry and boring and not worth the work-life balance investment
o Software applications are not relevant to females. They are designed by men for men
o Lack of support, flexibility and career opportunities make it tempting for women in technology to get out
o Software development is not creative with little no interaction

Tell us what we can do to help provide the resources and support to grow future female leaders in technology. (read less)

The WomenBuild program incorporates a hands-on process that draws on the power of creative thinking to shift group conversation from talking heads to focused minds. Each team will be run as a facilitated conversation with physical Lego brick constructions that will powerfully shift a group to more productive outcomes by accomplishing a deeper mining of the diverse wisdom within the group and a clearer shared conclusion on inspirational career paths for women in the technical field. Through this... (read more)