Women have been leaders in computing from the start, but not enough of our contributions are remembered. Keep our history.
Video introduction to the Kickstarter
Who are in these decks
Here is a complete list of the women in the Notable Women in Computing Playing Cards and included in the first edition a complete list of the women in the TechWomen Emerging Leaders in the Middle East and Africa Card Deck. The honorees we have worked with have been entirely supportive of this project. Though we’ve heard nothing but excitement from the women included, some may choose to withdraw before we print the next edition, so it may be a bit different.
Who’s behind this deck
Professor Susan H. Rodger (Professor of the Practice, Duke University), Katy Dickinson, and Jessica Dickinson Goodman collaborated on this project. Duke University is and Everwise was our project sponsor; without them, this project would not have been possible.
Symantec generously printed the first 50 posters for the TechWomen Emerging Leaders in the Middle East and Africa Posters and we are profoundly grateful for their help and support.
What does “notable” mean?
Women in this card deck were selected after receiving multiple, high-level awards from more than one institution, such as being named an ACM Fellow, IEEE Fellow, and receiving the Turing Award. Our deck also seeks to portray the true diversity of women in computing both current and historical, showcasing professionals from a variety of nations, backgrounds, gender identities, orientations and abilities. There are a dozen or more different groupings of notable women we could have turned into this deck; you can make your own using these instructions.
History of this project
This card deck is one part of a project that’s been going on for years and involved a number of passionate volunteers. It is associated with the “CRA-W and Anita Borg Institute Wikipedia Project – Writing Wikipedia Pages for Notable Women in Computing” work that Katy Dickinson, Professor Susan H. Rodger (Professor of the Practice, Duke University), and others have worked on for years. Learn more and get involved in that work here: bit.ly/NotableW
The idea for a card deck started during an annual camping trip in the high Sierras. Katy and Jessica (mother and daughter) were discussing Katy’s joint research poster with Susan. Jessica suggested a card deck to highlight 54 of the women as a way to help other technical women interact with the stories of leaders in the profession. They spent hours designing some prototypes, and when Susan saw and loved them, they decided this could be fun.
Katy wrote the text and tracked down the majority of the photos; Susan reached out for permissions, gave feedback on design, and helped curate the list; and Jessica combined all of the information into intuitively designed cards, handled the printing logistics, and product management.
Other ways to get involved
Go to bit.ly/NotableW to find information about other notable women in computing, then commit to writing or editing a Wikipedia page for a woman without one. Here you’ll find a list of 330+ incredible women, many of whom have little to no presence online. You can help fix that.
If you got a first edition deck at the Hopper Conference, send us a picture! We’d love to post it as an update (mention @JessiDG, @katy_dickinson or @shrodger). If you have a Ladies Who Tech poker night, send us a picture. We’d love to see our work in the wild.
