Meet
Adriana
Adriana Gascoigne is the founder and former CEO of Girls in Tech, a Nashville-based non-profit organization devoted to eliminating the gender gap in tech. She is also the author of Tech Boss Lady: How To Start-Up, Disrupt, And Thrive As A Female Founder, and a board member of WAPPP, Harvard Kennedy School’s Women in Public Policy Program.
More than a decade ago, Adriana faced discrimination and harassment as the lone female executive in a Silicon Valley startup. From that experience, she was inspired to help other women and thus founded Girls in Tech, which advocated for diversity and inclusion in STEM fields.
Girls in Tech boasted 50 chapters throughout the world. It was an active, engaged community that impacted more than 500,000 women. Hundreds of events and programs were held throughout the year and were tailored to address the unique needs of local chapters.
Tech Boss Lady
Through her leadership at Girls in Tech, Adriana has improved diversity in the tech workforce; encouraged policy change at government, corporate and community levels; inspired women to pursue a career in STEM fields; and, created impact-oriented curriculum, courses and events to support women throughout their careers. She also raised over $25,000,000 in donations, grants and sponsorships for the organization. Most recently, Adriana was selected to participate in an MIT Executive MBA Program called ‘Leading with Impact’, a renowned intensive program aimed at developing executives from diverse backgrounds to bolster their leadership within an organization leading change.
No stranger to growing brands and building amazing companies, Adriana has worked with tech companies like hi5, Algentis, Jam City, Indiegogo, Social Gaming Network, ImpulseFlyer, SocialGold, GUBA, HelpLearnAsia, RxMatch and QwikCart. She has also served in executive roles at Ogilvy & Mather, Interpublic Group of Companies, and SecondMarket, whilst serving as a member of LXCouncil, a Mosaic Changemakers Fellow and an advisor to Change.org and Involver.
Adriana holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a concentration in Organizational Studies and has a minor in Communications from the University of California at Davis.