Grace Hopper Celebration India is back in Bengaluru this year

The Grace Hopper Celebration India focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion is back in Bengaluru this week

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.