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Lisa Snider

Tell us your story.

My General Assembly (GA) Web Development Immersive course got me into tech! GA is a business, design and tech school that began as a startup in NYC and has opened in a dozen cities around the world. So I learned the ins and outs of full-stack web development in a 12-week program because I knew the central role technology plays in our lives now and I wanted to broaden my professional toolkit. I wanted something hands-on and that would provide opportunities for continuous growth and learning.

Many folks at GA including my awesome instructors, peers, and others on that team inspired me in my journey to build the foundation of my career in tech. And I recently started working at Social Driver, where I'm loving my foray into web development as a profession! The people at Social Driver are very welcoming and it's clear they are talented developers, designers, and strategists who are dedicated to people-driven technology.

What do you most want other women and young girls to know about being a woman in our digital culture?

It’s never too late to learn about tech and get into this space. Learning about technology is always a good investment. The growing number of women in the field is a super exciting thing and now is the best time to get involved. I’ve learned that there are so many avenues to learn new skills and languages that it’s quite fun. Meetups, mentoring programs, books, and of course the internet make learning how to work in and with technology a collaborative and meaningful endeavor.

Pass it on! Who has inspired you, and who do you hope to inspire?

General Assembly’s mission and team has inspired me, especially my instructors - shout out to Jesse Shawl, Sean Shannon, and Mikael Davis - who’ve shared their own journeys to becoming web developers and teaching me most of what I now know. I want to inspire girls from toddlers and beyond to explore tech and engineering, and also manufacturers of toys for girls - to take a hint from Goldie Blox to inspire girls to learn and love building new things.

The Women in Tech campaign exists to help redefine what women in technology means in the 21st century. Started independently by a group of professional women who, after many impassioned discussions about women in tech knew we wanted to expand this definition beyond 'traditional' technology skills. To us, it includes most every current, emerging or evolving role within an organization. By featuring leaders and emerging leaders across industries who embody this we hope to collectively 'stand up', be proud of our place in the digital world and inspire young women or those new to the 'tech space' to get involved.