Geography: United States
Founded: 1994
Address:1501 Page Mill Road, MS 1105
Palo Alto, CA 94304
About the Anita Borg Institute
Through their work every day, the Anita Borg Institute seeks to:
- increase the impact of women on all aspects of technology
- increase the positive impact of technology on the world’s women
Since 1997, ABI has developed tools and programs designed to help industry, academia and government recruit, retain and develop women technology leaders. By providing inclusive platforms designed to ensure women’s voices, ideas and spirits will result in higher levels of technical innovation, ABI delivers programs that are changing the world for women and for technology.
History
The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) was founded in 1994 by renowned computer scientist Anita Borg, Ph.D. (1949-2003). Initially known as the Institute for Women in Technology, IWT was renamed in 2003 to the Anita Borg Institute in order to honor Dr. Borg.
Prior to founding the Institute, in 1987 Dr. Borg founded Systers, the first online community for women in computing. In 1997 along with colleague and friend Telle Whitney, PhD, Drs. Borg and Whitney began the inaugural Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Systers and the Grace Hopper Celebration remain important cornerstones of ABI’s work today. In 2002, Dr. Whitney was named President and CEO of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology.
The Strategy
How can ABI accomplish their mission to increase the impact of women on all aspects of technology and increase the positive impact of technology on the world’s women? By a concept ABI calls The Virtuous Cycle: leaders, creative technologies, products & services and society.
Women in society are encouraged to embrace engineering and technical professions and through those professions, learn the skills of leadership. Women use their leadership skills to influence the ways in which technology is designed and implemented, focusing on significant practical solutions to problems that trouble them – energy, food, clean water, health, literacy, environment—and a host of other issues confronting the world.
As products and services result from their innovations and permeate the global market, the capabilities of technical women are demonstrated, and new generations of women follow in their footsteps, in a profession that grows increasingly more supportive of women.