About SF WoW

San Francisco Women on the Web (SF WoW) is a non-profit organization formed to provide networking and professional development for women working in technology. The group was founded on August 10, 1998, by women who had been leading the San Francisco Webgrrls chapter. SF WoW now has a membership of over 1,300 people.

The SF WoW Mission

The objective of SF WoW is to serve, educate, and empower women in technology through professional development, support, and diverse networking opportunities.

How SF WoW Got Started

The founders of SF WoW felt it vital to establish a legal structure and formal organization to support the evolving community of women working on the web in the San Francisco area. Many of SF WoW's volunteers were previously a part of SF Webgrrls, a local chapter of an international organization supporting women in the internet space.

SF WoW Services

SF WoW offers the services required to support women's professional development in our area. We host a free discussion mailing list with a digest version. Our list serves as the central virtual meeting place where members can share ideas, ask for technical or career help, and learn about our community's activities. We have developed a rich web site with resources for our community. We have workshops, meetings, Klatches and Scrappy Hours for networking.

SF WoW Dues

We do not charge dues, as we do not believe they are necessary. We want to keep this community accessible for a broad range of members with different financial resources. We charge small fees at our events, to cover event costs and any organizational overhead costs. We keep our organization lean, use volunteer efforts and our own community's resources, and to seek sponsorships to help defray our costs.

Legal Structure

We are a non-profit, tax exempt business league, a 501c6 California Corporation. We selected this structure to enable us to support a low-cost, volunteer-based community with a "pay as you go" model while offering us the protection and legitimacy afforded a legal entity.

Join SF WoW

We warmly invite anyone who would like to share with us in our work to empower women in new media and internet fields. To join, simply sign up for our mailing lists. You can find list subscription details here. Should you have any problems, please write our Listmom at listmom@sfwow.org.

We also hope to see you at our events and hear your voice on our discussion mailing list!

Get Involved

SF WoW volunteers are list members who give back to their community and get back even more in return. Volunteers are often able to meet high-level executives, vote on SF WoW leaders and issues, take advantage of increased industry networking opportunities, and of course, feel good about helping women in technology. SF WoW has many opportunities for contributing on different levels of participation. Women@Large are volunteers who sign up to be called upon occasionally to set up chairs, pick up food, etc., for our workshops and events. Volunteers also manage different programs in their areas of expertise, like sponsorship and this Web site. And the Directors and Board members set the overall strategies and tactics for SF WoW. See Get Involved for more information on how you can become an SF WoW volunteer.

How Do I Contact This Group?

We have provided a volunteer list so you can contact exactly the right person.

Last Words on Webgrrls and Other Women's Organizations

We support any organization working to empower women in their careers. Webgrrls International is such a group, and we salute the women working to build that group. We hope to have great relationships with many local and international groups, as we believe a broad variety of groups address different needs women have. We also hope our members choose to be involved with any group that meets their needs.