Excel to Python: A Chica's Guide to Owning Our Tech, Health & Wealth Future

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"If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair" 

Shirley Chisholm, U.S. Representative 1968-1983

In the 1980s, when I became the first to establish a finance club at my university, I recognized that understanding finance would ensure opportunities and job security. It wasn't a natural field for me at the time because, due to a poor primary school education in my impoverished Brooklyn neighborhood, I was woefully behind in math. By the time I got to college, I was hell-bent on making sure I strengthened my greatest weaknesses. I spent a massive amount of time in the library (with note cards), running practice problems in algebra, calculus, micro and macroeconomics with students smarter than I (they were all men and are my friends to this day). Of course, I'm dating myself when I say that Excel and HP Scientific and Finance calculators were the fancy new technologies back then. Of course, as is obvious by the writing of this newsletter, finance has been very good to me.

As I look around at who and what is steamrolling our future, there's no doubt that there is a lot on the line for women. STEM, AI, and decentralized finance are permeating every part of our lives. Those industries are exploding globally, and the outsized cost to women if we don't become an active part of all the underlying technology is reduced health, lower wealth, and possibly zero influence in the power structures that affect all humanity.

The Stakes Have Never Been Higher

The latest data reveals a stark reality: women comprise only 27.6% of the technology workforce[2]. Even more concerning, Black and Hispanic women account for only 6% of computer science degrees[7]. In leadership positions, the numbers are even more troubling, with women holding just 32% of entry-level technology hardware roles[7].

Why Python is Your Gateway to Tech