Philadelphia Company Looks To Lead Charge For Women In Tech
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As Women's History Month nears its end, a Philadelphia tech company is making a vow to continue shaking things up by making diversity a priority.
"It's an up-hill battle, I am proud of Philadelphia," said Tracy Levesque co-founder of Yikes Inc. "It has a mindfulness about this subject."
Yikes Inc., a collaborative tech company, is looking to be a pioneering vehicle for diversity in a male dominated industry of web design and coding.
Levesque, her partner Mia, and their friend founded the company in 1996.
Since then, the group has built a successful company focused on enhancing community, but Levesque says diversity within the ranks of technology needs to improve.
"You look at the statistics, it's still pretty dismal," she said. "Which doesn't make sense to me since [women] make up 51 percent of the population.
Although diversity in age, gender and ability in Philadelphia isn't the norm yet, Philadelphia has grown to become an evolving model for other cities. Companies like Yikes have played a significant part in that change.
"We can't keep waiting for the powers to invite us to the table," she said. "We have to build the table."