By Angie Chang (Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Women 2.0)
Jezebel nominates “lady innovators Best Buy could’ve put in its Super Bowl ad” on Sunday.
Jezebel blogger Anna North points out that this ad showcased a bunch of male tech innovators. She writes:
“Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt — maybe those poor ad execs just didn’t know how to find cool women in tech. So we did the work for them. Here are ten awesome ladies they could’ve featured.”
Here are the “lady innovators” who deserve air time in a Super Bowl ad as much as anyone for their tech innovations:
Amanda Wixted (Game Developer)
Amanda is a game developer responsible for FarmVille, Pac-Man and more mobile games. She talks about game development at Bay Area Girl Geek Dinners (video here).
Emily Chang (Co-Founder, Ideacodes)
Emily co-founded design studio Ideacodes, which has designed user interfaces for companies like Ideo and gdgt. She also founded community design site PicoCool.
Jane Ballantine (Founder & CEO, Limitless Learning Limited)
At Limitless Learning Limited, Jane developed rAPPidRevise, a smartphone app to help British kids and young adults study for their exams.
Julia Hu (Founder & CEO, Lark)
Julia started Lark, a wristband “un-alarm clock” that wakes you without waking your partner. It also tracks and improves your sleep. She writes about leadership for women.
Leah Culver (Founder & CEO, Grove)
Leah’s newest product is Grove for coworkers to chat with each other easily. She also founded Pownce, which was acquired by blogging company SixApart.
Rana el Kaliouby (Co-Founder & CTO, Affectiva)
MIT Media Lab Research Scientist Rana co-founded Affectiva, making products that measure people’s emotions using facial expressions and other cues for medical research and games.
Rosalind Picard (Co-Founder, Affectiva)
MIT Media Lab professor Rosalind co-founded Affectiva, making products that measure people’s emotions using facial expressions and other cues for medical research and games.
Sandy Jen (Co-Founder & CTO, Meebo)
Meebo founding CTO Sandy talks about the need for more female role models in tech – not only to inspire young girls but to encourage women to take more risks in their careers.
Sarah Allen (Co-Founder & CTO, Mightyverse)
Sarah co-founded Mightyverse to share language globally. In an interview last year, Sarah talks about struggling to find female role models until she read a book about a lady mathematician.
Sophia Teutschler (Founder, Sophiestication)
iOS developer Sophia runs Sophiestication, maker of apps like CoverSutra for Mac OS X and Groceries and Tipulator for the iPhone.
Jezebel’s Anna North sums up her challenge to Best Buy – “put any one of these ladies in your next ad. Then maybe I’ll be convinced you give a shit about female customers.”
For more women innovators in technology, check out Women 2.0 PITCH Conference on February 14, 2012 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. Get your ticket now!
About the guest blogger: Angie Chang co-founded Women 2.0 in 2006 with Shaherose Charania. She currently serves as Editor-In-Chief of Women 2.0 and is working to mainstream women in entrepreneurship. Previously, Angie held roles in product management, web UI design, and entrepreneurship. In 2008, Angie launched Bay Area Girl Geek Dinners, asking that guys come as the “+1” for once. Angie holds a B.A. in English and Social Welfare from UC Berkeley. Follow her on Twitter at @thisgirlangie.
