#228 - CEO of 'she codes' Battles Covid (Ruth Polacheck)

Two Nice Jewish Boys

*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at http://masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys * From Mark and Steve to Bill and Elon, when scrolling through any list of the top figures in tech, there are practically no female faces. And it’s not just at the top. According to some statistics, in the US, women represent only 14% of software engineers and only 25% of all computer-science related jobs. It’s not much better in Silicon Wadi either. As of 2017, women made up only 29% of all computer science students in Israel. So why is this? Why in 2021, in the age of equality, is there still such a wide gap? And finally, are we doing something about it? Ruth Polachek is the Chairwoman, Founder and CEO for 6 of the last 7 years of “she codes”, a community of 30,000 Israeli female software developers. “she codes” has as its mission statement the goal of reaching 50% female representation in the tech industry within a decade. Ruth is also currently CEO and Co-Founder of a new Digital Health venture, LessTests, which aims to make Covid-19 testing as accessible as possible to everyone around the world. We are thrilled to be joined today by Ruth Polachek.