Women in Digital launches in Philly — with a Delaware connection

When Women in Digital, and Ohio-based organization uniting women in the tech world, launched its Philadelphia chapter at WeWork during Philly Tech Week 2018 in May, Collie Turner of Wilmington’s Tapp Network was intrigued.

By the beginning of June, she was officially the vice president of Women in Digital Philly’s board of directors.

“I’m a woman of action,” said Turner, who spends most of her professional time at The Mill, where the Tapp Network has its office.

At that first open meeting in Philly, action was what they were looking for. “They said, ‘We want to form this and are looking for people to be involved,'” said Turner. “There’s a process. It’s not a social organization at all, it’s these very driven females who are like, ‘I have a professional goal I want to accomplish it.'”

With 20 years of digital experience, including a former seat on the TechImpact board, Turner’s goals may differ slightly from some of her counterparts in the organization. “I’ve got at least 15 years on everybody,” she said. “It’s good. It’s diversification!”

In her line of work, she finds that Women in Digital’s resources are beneficial for recruiting, as well as for getting the word out about new initiatives she’s involved with. Others are looking to learn coding, improve their digital marketing skills and find career advice, among other goals.

So, how exactly does Women in Digital work? As a member-based network that connects women with resources and each other, the Philadelphia branch meets monthly on the second floor at Strangelove’s in Philadelphia; WiD’s biggest perk, though, is probably its Slack channel, which members can access to network both locally and nationally.

“I’ve been a member of different organizations, like Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association,” said Turner. “For me, being someone who’s worked in digital for years, this is a group of people that I didn’t know existed. That could actually teach me a lot. Isn’t that the whole point of why you want to be in an organization?”

As for Delaware’s place in all of this, Turner stresses that the Philly chapter includes women in Delaware. While no IRL meetings are currently planned for Delaware, she’s sees it as a future possibility, especially if interest grows in the Wilmington area. “We’re at such the formative stages that if we can do a back and forth, why wouldn’t we?” she said.

Women in Digital Philadelphia still needs a few good board members and will be holding an open meetup at Strangelove’s on July 18. Unlike their regular meetups, the open meetup is open to non-members who want to check the organization out before joining (or applying for a board position). Open meetups are free — for more info, click here.

Can’t make it? Everything you need to know about becoming a member can be found on the Women in Digital Philadelphia website.