Grace Hopper Celebration India is back in Bengaluru this year

Back in Bengaluru after a five-year break, the Grace Hopper Celebration India (GHCI) 2024 brings immersive workshops, an array of speakers and industry leaders to give participants career guidance and a platform to showcase their strengths over a period of three days. Organised by Anitab.org India, this industry fest is a call for celebrating, inspiring and empowering women and non-binary technologists.

In 1987, Anita Borg, a computer scientist, started a digital community for women which gradually evolved into an organisation for women in technology. As of today, AnitaB.org has a presence in more than 50 countries; Shreya Krishnan, Managing Director of AnitaB.org India, shares how the fest is back in India this year.

“Though we shut down in India during the pandemic, events continued to take place in the United States which is our headquarters. This year, we decided to come back to India with full fervor for various reasons,” says Shreya.

“Most importantly, it was for the women and non-binary people in technology and adjacent to technology and impacted by technology, that we represent. Secondly, work needs to happen to make sure that inclusion is contextual around the world. In India, inclusion is way more nuanced as it includes communities, intersectionality, feminism and other facets.”

“The LGBTQIA and non-binary spectrum is quite under-served as a community in India, and the GHCI is one of the many things AnitaB does to ensure it happens,” she adds.

Shreya says this time round, the GHCI will be a much larger event than it was five years ago. “There are 10 different live stages and six deep learning tracks. Apart from this, there will also be an innovation showcase lounge as well as an unconference area, book nook, art nook and a Zen zone. The entire event has been designed as a self-transformative experience.”

The theme for this year’s edition of GHCI 24 is ‘me+we’, celebrating the collective power of women and non-binary technologists, focussing on wellness, diversity, and inclusion, especially of LGBTQIA+ and nonbinary voices.

The event focuses a lot on STEAM — Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math — and in keeping with this, there will be performances, conversations, storytelling and sessions on careers and leadership. “We also have an executive track that focuses on people who want to move up the ladder in terms of their leadership roles. This approach to interdisciplinary learning is happening for the first time with us,” adds Shreya.

As of now GHCI 2024 has representation from over 208 different cities, says Shreya. Day One of the event will conclude with a pre-Pride March at the venue as well as a special line-up of speakers curated by Maya Bazaar, while Day Two will come to a close with an in-person conversation with actor Bhumi Pednekar. The grand finale is a concert by Usha Uthup, Sushant Divgikar (Rani KoHEnur) and Bengaluru’s Carlton Braganza.

“The concert is not just about their music, but also their journeys and stories. Usha was one of the first women to be singing in nightclubs in Kolkata, and she has a powerful story to share. Sushant has a beautiful story of representation and the kind of performer that they are. The three artistes together bring an interesting nuance and energy to the stage — the ally, the woman and the LGBTQIA representative — a testament to collective consciousness.”

It took Shreya and a 13-member team the better part of this year to put this event together. Some of the 200-odd speakers scheduled to be part of GHCI 2024 include Lalita Indrakanti, CEO of Jaguar India, Vidya Lakshman, Technology Director at Tesco and Pankaj Rai of the Aditya Birla Group, who will hold forth, “on the necessity for inclusion and diversity, breaking the barriers of what is usually not said because this is a safe space. This is an advocacy platform to be honest and unapologetic,” says Shreya.

“We’re looking to push the envelope on things that are needed to impact change on the ground for the people we represent. The idea behind our theme ‘me + we’ is that as individuals we exist, but as a community, we have a bigger voice and better access, and we need to leverage that,” she adds.

“I think it is important for women in minority communities and non-binary people to consistently show up for themselves, investing in their growth, careers, personal transformation and learning. To this end, it is important to devote time, energy and effort in personal growth, and this is one way to do it since you will find stories, shared narratives and so much more in coming together as a collective power of community.”

The schedule for GHCI’s tech tracks include AI & ML, data science, cloud, cyber security & IoT, and a special media track on diversity in communication. As many as 250 speakers and 15,000 technologists will be part of the event which aims to create business and networking opportunities from within the community to build a more diverse and inclusive tech industry, amongst other things.

GHCI will take place at the Bangalore International Centre from November 20-22. Log on to anitabindia.org to register and for details on speakers, schedules and more.