COPING WITH COVID FEATURE: SHE+ GEEKS OUT

​Despite her busy schedule--meetings, grants that need writing, and evolving programmatic work--Felicia Jadczak generously gave some of her time to virtually sit down with B Local Boston to provide an update on how her B Corp, She+ Geeks Out, is adjusting to COVID-19.

​She+ Geeks Out is a Boston-based B Corp that focuses on “providing tech and tech-adjacent womxn and their allies an opportunity to network and connect with each other, as well as with companies who wish to hire them.” As the Co-CEO and Co-Founder, Felicia focuses on business 

development and leading their corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings. So, what does it look like behind the scenes to work full-time though COVID-19 on convening people virtually?

“The challenge is to survive this crisis while quickly pivoting to support our community and our partners,” said Jadczak. “There are two sides of our organization and both have had to adapt in different ways to go virtual. A portion of our diversity, equity and inclusion corporate trainings were virtual, so working with our partners to adapt the full trainings has been easier. The community work, the other side of our organization, was a bit more complex.” 

Though it might be complex to build a community virtually, She+ Geeks Out and its partners rose to the challenge. First, the company spent weeks looking for the best virtual platform to mimic an in-person event and eliminate virtual fatigue. Attendees of She+ Geeks Out events now spend nearly three hours visiting different virtual rooms at the event. 

Second, partners like Facebook stepped up to enhance the at-home feel of virtual events. “For a recent career event with Facebook…they stepped up to help us send a bottle of wine or chocolates to all the attendees a few days before the event,” said Jadzcak. “Everyone sent us messages about how excited they were to receive the package.” 

In addition to making great events, She+ Geeks Out is making sure they are accessible to everyone. All community events are now “pay what you can” and they also include an option to donate to Direct Relief’s COVID-19 efforts. Indeed, their B Corp spirit shines through as they join others around the world in finding ways to support the community.
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Interested in learning more about She+ Geeks Out? Check out their upcoming community events and corporate trainings, or follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.