I am not alone in writing about the lack of women in technology-based leadership roles. But often, the focus of such posts is on the startup sector – on the web based businesses that gain a large share of the popular press. Yet this is a more widespread issue – it’s not just technology industries where women are noticeably absent – almost all other industries tell the same story.
Partly this is a problem of prominence, partly a problem of support. Yet, as Don Dodge points out, there are plenty of outstanding women leaders for us to follow as role models. Here is a list of smart women leaders on Twitter. Where possible I have added their blogs.
Go beyond the obvious, read their tweets, see what they are thinking about. Read their websites and take a look at the topics, the challenges and the opportunities that face us all.
| Blog | ||
| @Sarahcuda | Blog | Sarah Lacy, author of several books and writer for Techcrunch |
| @MarissaMayer | VP of products at Google | |
| @Padmasree | Padmasree Warrior, CTO at Cisco | |
| @Caro | Caroline McCarthy – writer at Cnet | |
| @JolieOdell | Blog | Jolie O’Dell, writer at Mashable |
| @GinaTrapani | Blog | LifeHacker , blogger, techwriter |
| @Missusp | Blog | Christine Perkett, Boston based PerkettPR agency |
| @Mollydotcom | Blog | Molly Holzschlag – open web, blogger, conference speaker |
| @Caterina | Blog | Caterina Fake, founder of Flickr and Hunch |
| @XeniJardin | Blog | Editor at Boing Boing, contributor to Wired Magazine |
| @Halley | Blog | Halley Suitt, exec at Communispace |
| @ShiraLazar | Blog | CBSnews, Media personality, always at tech conferences |
| @Alexia | Blog | Alexia Tsotsis – writer at Techcrunch |
| @Jhurwitz | Blog | Judith Hurwitz, Consulting Group – digging into the world of software |
| @ElizaBrooks | Blog | Elizabeth Brooks, formerly VP of marketing at Napster |
| @Sarah_Ross | Head of Digital at Katalyst Films, formerly at Yahoo | |
| @GigaStacey | Blog | Stacey Higginbotham – writer at GigaOm |
| @Zephoria | Blog | danah boyd – researcher, writer, Microsoft |
| @InaFried | writer at Cnet | |
| @Edyson | Esther Dyson, conference organizer, Angel Investor | |
| @Megan | Megan McCarthy – TechMeme and MediaGazer | |
| @AriannaHuff | Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post | |
| @Kabster728 | Katie Boehret, writer at Wall Street Journal | |
| @CharleneLi | Blog | Charlene Li, founder of Altimeter Group |
| @JessiWrites | Jessi Hempel, formerly at BusinessWeek, now at Fortune | |
| @Cshipley | Blog | Chris Shipley, longtime at DEMO, founder of Guidewire Group |
| @Pistachio | Blog | Laura Fitton, founder of oneforty.com |
| @MaryjoFoley | Writer for ZDnet, follows Microsoft | |
| @Christine | Blog | Christine Herron – First Round Capital |
| @KaraSwisher | Blog | Writer and provocateur at BoomTown and All Things D |
Nina Nets it Out: These days you don’t need to look far to find the great thinking, analysis and approaches of women leaders. Here is a list of great blogs to read and interesting Twitter conversations to follow.