QueerTech empowers queer technologists to thrive in tech

QueerTech, a Montreal-based nonprofit serving the LGBTQ+ tech community, gained its roots after CEO and co-founder Naoufel Testaouni began attending tech events in Montreal and New York City. The lack of representation of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC tech workers at these events soon got him thinking about ways he could help build and foster community for underrepresented groups in tech.

Meanwhile, Andy Saldaña, COO and co-founder of QueerTech, was on a similar journey, running an organization called New York Tech Alliance, focusing on the tech ecosystem in New York City and working closely with tech entrepreneurs. As he attended tech events, much like Testaouni, Saldaña noticed the same underrepresentation and wanted to find ways to better connect the queer tech community.

Testaouni and Saldañas’ paths crossed in 2016 at the Startup Fest in Montreal. They quickly realized their similar missions and soon teamed up to turn QueerTech into the robust organization it is today.

QueerTech has three over-arching missions. The first is to create opportunities for queer technologists to break into or advance in the tech industry through cohort style programs. The second is to create safe spaces for queer technologists to network and interact through conferences, meetups, digital platforms, and other organized events. And the third is to connect the QueerTech community with corporate partners who are a part of the tech ecosystem, to “build bridges instead of silos,” says Saldaña. 

QueerTech achieves all this by creating more access to tech jobs for the queer community, helping queer technologists grow into leadership positions, and supporting queer talent through their careers in the industry.

Closing the confidence gap

Saldaña and Testaouni felt that, while there were plenty of programs that already exist for those looking to gain the skills for a tech career, there were fewer resources available to marginalized tech workers who already have the skills but struggle to land interviews and their first role.

 “We know there’s a lot of tech training programs out there, and they do a fantastic job,” says Saldaña. ”We didn’t want to replicate that part of the equation.”

He adds they identified a confidence gap in the community, and wanted to create programs that helped build confidence in queer technologists, empowering them to build their professional networks, leverage mentorship opportunities, and unlock basic professional skills to help them better succeed in the industry.

To achieve this, they developed the QT Access and QT Leadership programs — 10-week cohort style programs that run on an annual basis. QT Access has a strong focus on professional skills building and landing a first tech job, while QT Leadership focuses on empowering queer technologists further into their careers to climb the corporate ladder.

The programs each have a similar goal: to build confidence in queer tech professionals at different levels of their careers. While there are plenty of programs that exist to help people gain the necessary skills to start a career in tech, the QT programs focus on navigating the tech industry through the queer lens and experience.

“It’s a bigger conversation about why people discount themselves for open roles, or why people don’t go after the opportunities that exist within the ecosystem,” says Saldaña.

Typically, he finds that a lot of technologists in the queer community will see the qualifications on a job listing and disqualify themselves if they don’t match every requirement. But through the QT programs, Saldaña says they work to help build the confidence to go out for jobs, irrespective of having every qualification, and find ways to demonstrate transferable skills.

He gives the example of his own childhood, when he helped his mom plan events for his large Mexican family, often feeding 100 people or more on a $50 budget or less. He says he didn’t realize what kind of skills he was building until later in his career when he had to manage budgets and forecasting. Skills such as budgeting, assigning value to products, and trying to keep costs reasonable were built from his early experiences, all of which became valuable, transferable skills for his résumé.

Building leadership skills and fostering community

Representation falls off the higher you move up the ladder, so it’s critical that diversity extends all the way to the top to foster sustainable diversity in the industry. This is what the QT Leadership program aims to achieve.

“We know some of those leaders go on to create their own business, and we want to make sure we’re enabling that connection for funding opportunities and resources for those founders as they start to create their business and keep the cycle going around,” says Saldaña.

Another important aspect of the QT Leadership program is about further enabling a safe space for queer tech professionals and creating a peer network that can become a resource.

“The QT Leadership program is creating that safe space and access to start mapping out your network and identifying the resources within your own personal professional journey,” adds Saldaña.  “It’s also aligning those with your overall leadership objectives, guided with mentorship through other professionals who’ve had a similar experience.”

Charlie Brecht, web production manager at Autodesk and a graduate of the most recent QT Leadership program, says it helped to gain a “level of confidence I wouldn’t have gained on my own,” noting that the support from the QT community was fundamental to build confidence in leadership skills.

“Throughout the program, we openly discussed imposter syndrome, something many of us experience despite our career successes,” says Brecht. “It’s a feeling that often affects marginalized communities, and knowing I’m not alone in this struggle has been incredibly reassuring.”

The value of mentorship and networking

The QT Access program provides members with a formal mentorship program where they’re paired with “individuals who represent the community, who can share their own journey and professional learning experience, and guide these early career individuals through that first step,” says Saldaña.

QueerTech connects with mentors by reaching out to the broader community through social media posts and other advertisements, and last year they received applicants for 50 mentors and matched 25 with mentees. The mentorship pairing process is unique in that QueerTech organizes a speed networking event where mentors are brought together with potential mentees who can practice their networking pitch, get to know different mentors, ask questions, and get feedback.

The mentorship relationship really takes off at the end of the 10-week program, when mentors and mentees are expected to meet once a week for at least three months following completion of the program.

Brecht initially had mixed feelings about working in the tech industry, nothing that while it can be exciting to be on the forefront of innovation, the rapid evolving pace of technology can sometimes be overwhelming, especially the pressure to constantly develop skills to stay relevant. But having a mentor helped gain a new perspective on a career path and as a guide through interview processes, as well as even job rejections, to help see that career paths aren’t linear. “You have to be more creative than in past years with your trajectory,” says Brecht.

And Saldaña says he’s seen first-hand the confidence boost QueerTech members get when they join, whether it’s through conferences, networking events, or professional development courses. At one conference, he says that during the final reflection session, someone stood up and spoke about often feeling uncomfortable at tech conferences. But by the end, they’d met over 100 people and didn’t feel like an introvert for the first time. “It really surprised them how that shift happened so quickly within that space,” he says. “It’s not just about focusing on business creation, but on supporting the tech talent that’s coming through to land those first roles, and then providing support and guidance as they build their career for longevity,” says Saldaña.