In an effort to connect women working in New York’s tech sector, Women+ in Technology will launch its New York chapter on Nov. 9 with an evening event at Primary, a coworking space in the Financial District. The group says it wants to help women build skills and find opportunities as more industries take on automation and AI.
WIT+ is part of a national nonprofit founded in Northwest Arkansas in 2023 by Tiffany Benitez, who saw a need for community and professional support for women outside traditional tech hubs like Silicon Valley.
The NYC chapter will offer networking, mentorship, and technical training while linking members to national programs.
As AI automates routine tasks such as scheduling, billing, customer service, and data analysis, oversight of how AI operates with people remains critical.
The people performing these tech roles get paid a minimum of $40,000 to $80,000 annually, yet women remain underrepresented in these jobs. In New York City, women hold 26.5% of computing jobs — below the national average of 26-28% — and Black women hold just 2% of these tech jobs. Nationally, women in tech earn about 86 cents for every dollar earned by men.
Shelda Eason, president of Women+ in Technology NY, said the chapter wants to help women enter and advance in tech while serving as a recruiting resource. Over the next two to three years, the group hopes to “be a source that companies could come to as an additional place to get women to fill roles,” she said.
Eason stressed that tech work spans beyond coding to fields like healthcare IT, cybersecurity, UX design, and AI development, where human judgment is essential.
“My own background is in UX design strategy,” Eason noted. “Not only do I have to know how to build the experience for humans, but there’s also the AI experience as well. So there’s AI, agentic behavior, and human behavior. How are you going to merge the two? How are you going to get your users to trust AI?”
She added that AI is also changing job searching through automated Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS): “The way that we are looking for jobs is changing… Recruiters are relying heavily on AI to help source candidates with their Applicant Tracking Systems, and it’s no longer a human doing that. So if I’m applying for a job and I don’t meet certain criteria, I’m never going to get seen. On the other side, a lot of people are using AI to help them match those criteria. So there’s a responsibility when it comes to finding the right job because sometimes people use AI to get in the door.”
Without many unions forming in the tech sector, Eason sees professional groups as essential for sharing knowledge and navigating policy changes.
“Technology is changing really fast, and you may not have all the tools and the time to really keep up with what’s going fast,” Eason explained. “So what the community does is really get together and talk about some of those changes.”
The NYC WIT+ chapter’s plans include networking, mentorship, educational events, and access to training. Its organizers say the New York group is also bringing in about 20 members from a former New Jersey chapter, offering annual dues of $40, or $25 for students, with access to upskilling platforms.
The launch will rely on community sponsorships: Primary, co-owned by Black entrepreneur Nathaniel “Nate” Berkeley Jr., donated space, while catering is provided by Délicieux, a Black woman-owned, MWBE-certified business founded by Bridgette “Chef Bri” Wilson.
“Every new chapter, across the U.S., proves how many women are looking for the same thing and now finding it,” said founder Tiffany Benitez. “New York is one of the most important tech markets in the country, and the women building careers here deserve a home base.”
