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The Keyword

How Google's Women Techmakers program is using maps to tell their stories

White desktop set sits on a white desk featuring a screen with a globe and several caricature images of women reading “The Women Techmakers Story Map.”

Women Techmakers (WTM) is a Google program that provides visibility, community, and resources for women in technology. One of its goals is also to showcase the extraordinary achievements and compelling journeys of WTM members across the globe. Today, WTM is launching a new interactive storytelling hub that highlights the voices of women developers and technologists from its community. Maps offers a unique way to connect personal experiences with real-world locations. Each ambassador pinpoints meaningful locations in their cities — resources and places of inspiration that shaped their journey.

A video showing the Women Techmakers story map.
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The Women Techmaker Story Map uses the latest capabilities from Google Maps Platform including Photorealistic 3D Tiles, Places API and Street View to bring ambassadors’ own stories to the map, allowing you to “travel” across the globe and learn more about them. As new women join WTM, their stories can be added to expand the Story Map of inspiration and empowerment.

Below are a few of the women whose stories you’ll find on the Women Techmakers map.

Black border on the top and bottom of the screen with the caricature visual of Ludymila Lobo in the center of a zoom in on a green shade globe visual. Bottom reads “Ludymila Lobo de Aguiar Gomes” from Manaus, Brazil. There is also a list of Media, Skills and Highlights.

Ludymila Lobo de Aguiar Gomes lives in Manaus, Brazil. She is a Women Techmakers Ambassador who believes in the power of women’s voices in her community. For the past couple of years, she has been working hard to cultivate spaces for women in tech to further their careers. “We need to have more women speakers and more women participating in and winning competitions and hackathons,” Ludymila says. “If you don't have role models, then when women are deciding their careers they'll have less of a chance to look at inspiring stories and say, ‘Hey, I can do this too.’"

Black border on the top and bottom of the screen with the caricature visual of Maryam Alhuthayfi in the center of a zoom in on a green shade globe visual. Bottom reads “Maryam Alhuthayfi” from Medina, Saudi Arabia. There is also a list of Media, Skills and Highlights.

Maryam Alhuthayfi is a WTM ambassador from Saudi Arabia. Maryam is the first female Google Developer Expert in Android in the entire Middle East and North Africa region. Her love for tech inspired her to move away from home to pursue her career. “As much as the news [of being the first female Google Developer Expert in Android in MENA] made me happy, it also made me sad because we have so many talented Android engineers who don’t have the visibility they deserve,” she says.

Black border on the top and bottom of the screen with the caricature visual of Bukola Johnson in the center of a zoom in on a green shade globe visual. Bottom reads “Bukola Johnson” from Berlin, Germany. There is also a list of Media, Skills and Highlights.

You’ll also meet Bukola Johnson, a WTM Ambassador from Berlin. “I realized there was a need for gender parity in tech when I started my career in IT,” she explains. “It was always only me on the team of male colleagues.” She says that one way she’s found support is through the WTM community.

These are just a few of the trailblazing women who are changing the face of tech. Explore the Women Techmakers Story Map for more inspiring stories or check out the blog post to learn how this was built. Become a WTM member today and join the empowering community.

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