Leanne Pittsford

Last updated
Leanne Pittsford
Born1980or1981(age 43–44) [1]
San Diego, California [2]
Nationality American
Alma mater California Polytechnic State University (B.A.)
San Francisco State University (M.A.)
OccupationEntrepreneur
Organization Lesbians Who Tech
SpousePia Carusone
Website leannepittsford.com

Leanne Pittsford [3] is an American entrepreneur. She is the founder of Lesbians Who Tech, a community of queer women and their allies in technology. [1] [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Pittsford grew up in San Diego, California. [2] [1] Being from a conservative family, she did not formally come out as a lesbian until the end of college. [2]

Pittsford attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, earning a bachelor's degree in political science. She went on to earn a master's degree in equity and social justice in education from San Francisco State University. [2]

Career

Pittsford began her career working for Equality California. At that time, the LGBTQ rights group was working to overturn Proposition 8 in California, which banned same-sex marriage in 2008. [1] She became head of operations for the organization. [5]

Pittsford co-founded the Lesbian Entrepreneur Mentoring Program. She was also the founder and CEO of Start Somewhere, a digital agency helping nonprofits and social enterprises. [5] [6]

Pittsford founded Lesbians Who Tech in 2012, wanting to create more networking opportunities and increase visibility for lesbians and queer women. [3] [1] [7] The organization grew from 30 people at the first happy hour meeting in San Francisco [8] to over 15,000 queer women and allies in 33 cities in 2016. [2] The organization also hosts three annual conferences, and has created scholarships with the help of a grant from Marc Andreessen and Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen and a Kickstarter campaign. [2] [9] [10]

In August 2016, Pittsford organized the third annual LGBTQ Tech and Innovation Summit at the White House. [11] She also co-organized the summit in 2015. [12]

In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Pittsford was part of Nerdz4Hillary, a tech industry group campaigning for Hillary Clinton. [13] [14]

Pittsford was recognized as a "soldier of social change... on the front lines of the culture wars" by San Francisco Magazine in 2015. [15] She was also recognized as one of "40 under 40" young business leaders in 2015 by the San Francisco Business Times. [16]

In 2017 Pittsford launched include.io, a recruiting platform for underrepresented technologists and recruiters. [17]

In 2019 Pittsford was recognised by Business Insider as one of the most powerful LGBTQ+ people in Tech. [18]

On Oct. 6, 2019, Pittsford was featured as a guest on the American LGBTQ+ podcast, Queery .

Personal life

Pittsford married Pia Carusone in June 2017. [19]

Selected publications

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Lesbians Who Tech & Allies is a community founded by Leanne Pittsford in 2012 to create a place for queer women and their allies in the field of technology.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Julie Compton (August 4, 2016). "OutFront: Lesbians Who Tech Founder Invests in Diversity". NBC News . Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Krystal Peak (June 10, 2016). "Lesbians Who Tech founder is out to shatter ceilings". San Francisco Business Times . Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "15 Questions with Leanne Pittsford". CNN Money . Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Interview with Leanne Pittsford of Lesbians Who Tech". Model View Culture. May 14, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Khier Casino (October 11, 2015). "National Coming Out Day: 9 LGBT people who have made a difference in technology". New York Daily News . Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  6. ↑ Melanie Barker (March 24, 2014). "Lesbians Who Tech". Curve . Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  7. ↑ "A Tech Conference Where Artificial Intelligence, Space Travel and Hula Hooping Come Together". Forbes. March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  8. ↑ Denise Restauri (July 28, 2014). "Lesbians Who Tech, From Silicon Valley To The White House". Forbes . Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  9. ↑ Molly Brown (June 30, 2015). "The Andreessens just gave $250K to support LGBT groups in tech". GeekWire . Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  10. ↑ Jessica Guynn (May 4, 2016). "Groups to raise $200k for LGBTQ women coding scholarships". USA Today . Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  11. ↑ Ina Fried (August 24, 2016). "I joined a bunch of LGBT techies at the White House to help tackle some world-threatening problems". Recode . Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  12. ↑ David Hudson (August 11, 2015). "White House hosts LGBT tech and innovation summit". Gay Star News . Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  13. ↑ Erin Carson (September 28, 2016). "Calling all nerds: One venture capitalist wants you to support Clinton". CNET . Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  14. ↑ Michal Lev-Ram (September 28, 2016). "Silicon Valley Investor Dave McClure Rallies Nerds for Clinton". Fortune . Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Saluting 37 Soldiers of Social Change". San Francisco Magazine. November 19, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  16. ↑ "40 Under 40 2015: Lesbians Who Tech founder changes the world while traveling through it". San Francisco Business Times. March 20, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Homepage". Leanne Pittsford. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  18. ↑ Leskin, Paige. "The 23 most powerful LGBTQ+ people in tech". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  19. ↑ "Pia Carusone, Leanne Pittsford". The New York Times . June 25, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
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