Visible Resilience: Celebrating Womxn in Tech at UC Davis
This past Women’s History Month, a long-standing womxn-focused UC Davis advocacy group achieved a significant milestone in recognition for their commitment to supporting womxn in technology fields.
The UC Davis Womxn in Tech (WIT) group received an official campus designation and became a subgroup of the Status of Women at Davis Administrative Advisory Committee (SWADAAC). The group celebrated its new designation and partnership with the academic advocacy committee within the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion during a WIT event on March 21, 2024.
Connect with Womxn in Tech
Womxn in Tech’s next event will be at the Thank Goodness for Staff (TGFS) event on May 8, where they will have their own table. In the meantime, stay up to date with WIT by joining them on UC Davis Slack in their #_womxn-in-technology channel. If you are interested in learning more, visit https://wit.ucop.edu/roster/davis/ or email eamarwedel@ucdavis.edu.
Official campus designation for WIT
WIT at UC Davis is an organization dedicated to ensuring that issues surrounding women in technology are reviewed and discussed with a dedicated focus on making continuous improvements toward equity. Founded in 2018, the group received its new designation as a validation for past efforts and a springboard for the future, according to WIT members.
“The official recognition from campus is vital for the program to continue to grow and will help us to move the WIT group's mission forward,” said Erica Avila, IT business systems analyst with Information and Educational Technology (IET) and WIT board member.
At the event, board members were recognized and thanked for their dedication during the past six years. Attendees included womxn in IT and allies from Davis, Sacramento and other UC campuses including the UC Office of the President and UC Berkeley. All said they were both impressed and inspired at the event.
“It’s great to see everyone in WIT getting recognition for the work they’ve done,” said Jazmin Hernandez, IT service desk business technical service analyst, at the event. “It’s amazing that this has been a six-year journey for them, and to see them come all this way. I think it just goes to show how much perseverance women have in general and I’m just so honored to be a part of this event.”
Mikael Villalobos, Ed.D., associate vice chancellor Office of Campus Community Relations and Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was among the first to welcome the group.
“You have a home with us,” Villalobos said. “We will make sure that you will have opportunities to have conversations, that you will thrive, you will be engaged and empowered, and that your work will be elevated.”
UC Davis WIT a leader among other UCs
WIT at UC Davis is part of a larger movement associated with the University of California to support women in technology, called UC Womxn in Tech. Charron Andrus, co-chair of UC WIT and UC Berkeley associate chief information security officer, complimented the UC Davis group for their prolific involvement and activism. The UC Davis group, for example, hosted an in-person and virtual speaker series in November 2023 where other womxn in tech talked about their career journeys and gave advice to mid-career womxn so as to foster a sense of belonging, relevance and empowerment.
“I want to recognize all the help your group has given as you've come up,” Andrus said at the March event. “You all are always at the table, ready to support across UC systems. You’re one of the most active, if not the most active, WIT group out there and I look forward to seeing what you do in the future.”
New partnership with SWADAAC
With the new campus designation, SWADAAC chair Nobuko Koyama said SWADAAC and WIT members had the opportunity meet and learn more about each other's missions and explore opportunities for collaboration.
“Womxn in Tech group is a very active group to support the empowerment of women pursuing and expanding their careers in IT at UC Davis…” Koyama said. “We are so excited about our collaboration.”
Members of WIT agree.
“Our WIT group shares a vision with SWADAAC to empower women and with DEI to create inclusive workspaces for all on campus,” said Emily Marwedel, senior service desk analyst, College of Letters and Science IT services unit and WIT co-chair. “I think this partnership will really allow us to reach more people and will provide some great collaboration opportunities.”