I was a mentor and project lead today the Women Techmakers + LadyHacks hackathon this weekend. LadyHacks follows the model of a civic hackathon, which emphasizes creating projects for the greater good. This event is a partnership between the Philadelphia GDG (I’m the organizer [grew out of the Android Alliance]) and LadyHacks for International Women’s Day!

LadyHacks is a community event for women of all skill levels to work collaboratively on projects using technology to provide solutions. Beginners, tech-curious, and experienced developers all attended and shared their knowledge and skills while working on projects that they are passionate about.

This year’s theme is A “Room()” of One’s Own, inspired from Virginia Woolf’s 1929 essay, A Room of One’s Own, which argued that women’s lack of access to education, financial independence and a room of their own held them back from achieving equality with men in the sphere of publishing. We encourage teams to consider what Room() should return today in order to achieve gender equity in STEM fields, and to build projects aiming to do just that.

I’m leading a Google Glass team. The first night was full of brainstorming and we came up with a lot of great ideas around the theme as well as general ideas. Today we will flesh out one of the ideas more fully and storyboard the application. Depending on skill levels and interest, we will start implementing! Look for an update at the end of the day!