The first-ever Wequity Conference – WITFLUENCE by Wequity with a theme of ‘Role Models for Women in Tech’ – was held in the city today with a stellar list of speakers, a whopping 86% of them women, and included 28 inspiring role models who spoke across 16 carefully curated sessions in technology and leadership. The daylong event which had 84 organizations participate with delegates, is designed to be a catalyst in the path to equality in technology and provided an inspiring and emboldening in-person experience for collaboration, learning, and growth. The conference also witnessed the formal launch of Wequity, a social impact company that drives gender equity for the technology ecosystem.

Delivering the keynote address, Geetha Kannan, Founder and CEO Wequity said, “Wequity is here to focus on women in tech and their key enablers. Wequity believes that equity will drive equality. It is only through collaboration with our stakeholders that we can move the needle. The time is now to start something that emanates from the rich capability of India and supports and promotes women in technology to achieve their career aspirations.”

At WITFLUENCE by Wequity, the first-ever Wequity Awards, a set of unique awards dedicated to the women in technology community were conferred on five individuals in appreciation of their significant contributions to gender equity in technology. With more than 100 nominations received from 60 organizations, the awards were judged by an esteemed executive panel of 4 industry leaders and experts in their field. The winners in the Technical category were Satyavathi Divadari (News Technology Services India) for Tech Beacon, Krishna Paul (Intel) for Tech Exemplar and Seema Nagar (IBM) for The Techinist. The Wequitism category winners were Anuradha Biswas (Prakat Solutions Inc) for Solidarity Idol and Vivek Shah (Goldman Sachs) for The Equalizer, given to a male sponsor in a business/technology role whose voice and work has driven gender equity and progressed women in tech.