Leanne Pittsford

Leanne Pittsford[3] is an American entrepreneur. She is the founder of Lesbians Who Tech, a community of queer women and their allies in technology.[1][4]

Leanne Pittsford
Born1980 or 1981 (age 42–43)[1]
San Diego, California[2]
NationalityAmerican
Alma materCalifornia Polytechnic State University (B.A.)
San Francisco State University (M.A.)
OccupationEntrepreneur
OrganizationLesbians Who Tech
SpousePia Carusone
Websiteleannepittsford.com

Early life and education

Pittsford grew up in San Diego, California.[2][1] Being from a conservative family, she did not formally come out as a lesbian until the end of college.[2]

Pittsford attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, earning a bachelor's degree in political science. She went on to earn a master's degree in equity and social justice in education from San Francisco State University.[2]

Career

Pittsford began her career working for Equality California. At that time, the LGBTQ rights group was working to overturn Proposition 8 in California, which banned same-sex marriage in 2008.[1] She became head of operations for the organization.[5]

Pittsford co-founded the Lesbian Entrepreneur Mentoring Program. She was also the founder and CEO of Start Somewhere, a digital agency helping nonprofits and social enterprises.[5][6]

Pittsford founded Lesbians Who Tech in 2012, wanting to create more networking opportunities and increase visibility for lesbians and queer women.[3][1][7] The organization grew from 30 people at the first happy hour meeting in San Francisco[8] to over 15,000 queer women and allies in 33 cities in 2016.[2] The organization also hosts three annual conferences, and has created scholarships with the help of a grant from Marc Andreessen and Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen and a Kickstarter campaign.[2][9][10]

In August 2016, Pittsford organized the third annual LGBTQ Tech and Innovation Summit at the White House.[11] She also co-organized the summit in 2015.[12]

In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Pittsford was part of Nerdz4Hillary, a tech industry group campaigning for Hillary Clinton.[13][14]

Pittsford was recognized as a "soldier of social change... on the front lines of the culture wars" by San Francisco Magazine in 2015.[15] She was also recognized as one of "40 under 40" young business leaders in 2015 by the San Francisco Business Times.[16]

In 2017 Pittsford launched include.io, a recruiting platform for underrepresented technologists and recruiters.[17]

In 2019 Pittsford was recognised by Business Insider as one of the most powerful LGBTQ+ people in Tech.[18]

On Oct. 6, 2019, Pittsford was featured as a guest on the American LGBTQ+ podcast, Queery.

Personal life

Pittsford married Pia Carusone in June 2017.[19]

Selected publications
  • Leanne Pittsford (September 3, 2015). "Lesbians Who Tech". In Shevinsky, Elissa (ed.). Lean Out: The Struggle for Gender Equality in Tech and Start-Up Culture. OR Books. ISBN 9781939293879.

References
  1. Julie Compton (August 4, 2016). "OutFront: Lesbians Who Tech Founder Invests in Diversity". NBC News. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  2. Krystal Peak (June 10, 2016). "Lesbians Who Tech founder is out to shatter ceilings". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  3. "15 Questions with Leanne Pittsford". CNN Money. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  4. "Interview with Leanne Pittsford of Lesbians Who Tech". Model View Culture. May 14, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  5. Khier Casino (October 11, 2015). "National Coming Out Day: 9 LGBT people who have made a difference in technology". New York Daily News. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  6. Melanie Barker (March 24, 2014). "Lesbians Who Tech". Curve. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  7. "A Tech Conference Where Artificial Intelligence, Space Travel and Hula Hooping Come Together". Forbes. March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  8. Denise Restauri (July 28, 2014). "Lesbians Who Tech, From Silicon Valley To The White House". Forbes. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  9. Molly Brown (June 30, 2015). "The Andreessens just gave $250K to support LGBT groups in tech". GeekWire. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  10. Jessica Guynn (May 4, 2016). "Groups to raise $200k for LGBTQ women coding scholarships". USA Today. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  11. Ina Fried (August 24, 2016). "I joined a bunch of LGBT techies at the White House to help tackle some world-threatening problems". Recode. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  12. David Hudson (August 11, 2015). "White House hosts LGBT tech and innovation summit". Gay Star News. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  13. Erin Carson (September 28, 2016). "Calling all nerds: One venture capitalist wants you to support Clinton". CNET. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  14. Michal Lev-Ram (September 28, 2016). "Silicon Valley Investor Dave McClure Rallies Nerds for Clinton". Fortune. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  15. "Saluting 37 Soldiers of Social Change". San Francisco Magazine. November 19, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  16. "40 Under 40 2015: Lesbians Who Tech founder changes the world while traveling through it". San Francisco Business Times. March 20, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  17. "Homepage". Leanne Pittsford. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  18. Leskin, Paige. "The 23 most powerful LGBTQ+ people in tech". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  19. "Pia Carusone, Leanne Pittsford". The New York Times. June 25, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
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