VMware recently held its annual Women Transforming Technology (WT2) conference, which focuses on promoting diversity and inclusion in the technology sector. As much as I’d been looking forward to attending the event — my first time — as the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, and the conference approached and became a digital event, I started wondering if I should skip it.

My days are full, juggling work, educating twin kindergarten boys from home, and coping (sometime successfully) with the existential stressors of death and global economic collapse. I know none of this is unique. And I’m extremely privileged to have a job, a healthy family, and a spouse who shoulders the burden with me — it could be much, much worse. But still, it’s exhausting, sometimes overwhelming, and lonely. Would WT2 be the best use of a full workday? Or a self-indulgent several hours that would take away from my other duties, set me behind, and add to my stress?

And with tens of thousands of people dying, and upwards of 15% of the United States’ population unemployed, does diversity and inclusion in technology even matter anymore? The short answer is yes.

I Laughed, I Cried, I Bought the Books

Not only does the pandemic present the perfect time for tech companies to “reimagine,” as we’re so fond of saying, what — and who — the future looks like, WT2 proved exactly what I needed at this particular moment in time. I nodded in agreement, I laughed, I cried — sometimes all in swift succession — during panels including “Working Guilt-Free During the Pandemic?” and “Emotional Health @ Work During Challenge and Uncertainty.” And then I immediately bought Laura Katen and Nataly Kogan’s books, “The Communication Habit” and “Happier Now,” respectively, after hearing both women in the above-mentioned sessions.

I messaged heart emojis, muscle arms emojis, and thank yous into the chat window. And I took a screen shot of Laura Dern, who gave the closing keynote via Zoom from her home, and then I texted it to all my friends and family. You know, just Zooming with Laura Dern.

Although it wasn’t a small, in-person event, WT2 provided an intimate glimpse into people’s homes and how they are coping with life these days, as well as much-needed connection with other women in the industry.

Connection While Isolating

It seems I wasn’t the only one feeling this way. Organizers usually cap the event at around 500 people. “It was always built to have a community aspect to it, which is why the conference was usually kept pretty small,” said Shanis Windland, VP of diversity and inclusion at VMware and one of the WT2 event organizers. Shifting the event to a digital format was nerve-wracking because she didn’t know if an online conference could create that same intimacy and connection, she added.

“But during the day of I had one of the best days that I’ve had in a while, attending the conference and connecting with other women and hearing stories of empowerment,” Windland said. “I felt really reenergized and happy.”

Additionally, the digital event allowed thousands more to attend, and for free. More than 5,000 people attended throughout the day.

“The chats were lovely. People were sharing stories, people were connecting with each other, and it felt really intimate and personal, even though it was much bigger than we ever designed it to be,” she said. “I think it really comes down to that craving of human connection and knowing that others are going through the same thing that you are. Day to day, it can feel like, wow, this is hard, and it’s a grind, and I’m not sure I’m gonna make it, and is anybody supportive or listening? Is anyone experiencing the same thing? And turns out a lot of people are.”

‘Restructure Everything’

In fact, the pandemic presents the ideal time to consider diversity and inclusion in technology, and approach this as an opportunity afforded by the COVID-19 related upheaval.

“We’re in the middle of a global pandemic, and we get an opportunity to restructure everything,” said Kathryn Finney, founder and CEO of digitalundivided, in her keynote. This gives companies the opportunity to “take this time to rethink everything you thought was true, and give space for your employees to do that,” she added.

Finney has a fascinating story. She was born in Milwaukee where her dad worked at Schlitz brewery until the factory closed. After that, he took a C++ course from an IBM engineer, got an unpaid internship with Big Blue at 36 before becoming a Microsoft engineer and eventually retiring as an EMC executive.

Finney, meanwhile, earned her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University before attending Yale for graduate school and becoming an epidemiologist. While she was running a small health-related nonprofit, she taught herself HTML and built a MySQL database so she could start a side project — The Budget Fashionista, one of the earliest shopping blogs — in 2003. A year later, she turned this into her full-time career and built a global media company, which she eventually sold in 2014.

She also founded digitalundivided (DID), a startup that focuses on female entrepreneurs. And her pioneering research project, ProjectDiane, shone a spotlight on the problem of diversity in the innovation space, which led DID to start the first venture capital fund focused on black and Latinx women founders. Since 2013 it has raised more than $100 million.

In other words, Finney knows a thing of two about investing in inclusion and diversity. “One thing that we’ve learned is money is a problem, but it’s rarely the problem,” she said.

Investing in Diversity and Inclusion

In addition to the $100-plus million DID has raised, last month — during the pandemic — Finney started the Doonie fund, named after her grandmother, and it makes micro investments of $100 in black women entrepreneurs across any sector. “It’s not a lot of money, but it’s $100, and we give it quickly, usually within 48 hours,” she said. “And we don’t tell the entrepreneurs how to spend the money because we believe that women, black women, and all women, and all leaders know what’s best to do with money know how to best support themselves and their businesses.”

Since April 5, the fund has invested in more than 500 black women entrepreneurs. “And what we found was, it wasn’t the hundred dollars that had as much of an impact — it definitely helped. But it was this idea of us saying we want you to stay in business. We believe in you, and particularly for women of color, we see you, we see the work that you’re doing. And we understand the challenges of building a company, and understand that it’s particularly challenging right now. So we’re giving you this as just a symbol of support. That was more important than the money.”

When we collectively enter the “new normal,” whatever that will look like, with companies re-opening their doors for business, workers going back into their offices, and travel starting back up, the tech industry including venture capital funds should take note. Of the 6,971 funded women-led startups, less than 4% are founded by black women, according to ProjectDiane research. When deciding which companies to invest in, VC firms should take a look at the leadership team and consider more than just its former-Cisco-exec pedigree.

Who Will the New Normal Look Like?

But tech companies play a role, too, and if they are serious about hiring and maintaining a more diverse workforce, there are certain things they should take into account. Kids and family are big ones — and a couple more that the pandemic has highlighted. Even before the pandemic made working parents homeschool teachers, and stay-at-home coaches, and full-time entertainment to their kids, working women still carried the bulk of the childcare and housework responsibilities. They also are more likely than men to adjust their career for their families.

As we’ve all recently discovered via Zoom, kids aren’t invisible. Even after the pandemic, we shouldn’t pretend that during work hours they don’t exist. (Funny story: one of my 6-year-old boys ran into a Zoom video call with my editorial colleagues, yelled, “I’m so high! I just killed a zombie dog!” And then wandered back to his zombie-killing video game, which I already felt guilty about letting him play.)

While the pandemic, working from home, and school closures have been tough, offices reopening — in many cases before schools and summer activities for kids do — add a new kind of stress. “Women are feeling like, ‘OK, I’m managing because right now I’m at home with my kids, and things are happening, and it’s okay,’” Windland said. But with the economy reopening, women start to think, “'what if my work starts to put pressure on me to come back? What if my colleagues start to show up and I fall behind in my career because I’m not present?’ That kind of pressure I feel is mounting as well for women.”

Be a Sponsor

Longer term, tech companies can attract and retain more women by offering more flexible work options and recognizing that certain aspects — like work-related travel — take a toll on working moms. Personally, back in the pre-pandemic days of regular travel for trade shows, I struggled with mom guilt about inadvertently missing milestones in my kids’ educational experience or personal growth while simultaneously enjoying the independence of work travel and not needing to take care of anyone other than myself. But my boss always acknowledged this sacrifice and thanked me for taking time away from my family, and these simple acts of acknowledgement and gratitude made a huge difference.

Another thing we all can do to encourage diversity in tech is to be a sponsor, not a mentor, Finney said. “And what I mean by that: a mentor will give you a map, a sponsor will drive you there. A mentor will show you the road and tell you how to walk it. A sponsor will take your hand, walk down that road, open the door, walk with you through the door, and make sure that you’re good. As a woman of color, and as people of color, we have mentors up the wazoo. I do not need any more mentors. But what we don’t have is a lot of sponsors.”

How can this be done? For conference organizers and attendees: invite women and people of color to keynote and participate on panels so the events don’t end up an all-white-male-speaker love fest. If you’re at a meeting or if your company’s staff photo doesn’t include any diverse faces, “figure out how you can hire people who look like me,” Finney said.

So let’s use this pause to reset our priorities and move diversity and inclusion to the top of the list.