Crystal Martin, Technology
Crystal is the CoderGirl Program Director at LaunchCode and a Co-organizer of Strange Loop Conference. CoderGirl is an education program of LaunchCode designed to engage and educate women in the technology field in St. Louis making training and careers in tech easily accessible. As a Detroit Public Schools graduate, Crystal is passionate about equal access to education at all levels. She came to St. Louis as a 2010 Teach For America Corps Member and taught middle school math in St. Louis Public Schools for four years. After her time in the classroom, she wanted to explore a career that would allow her to bring together her love for creativity, science, and community and technology was just that! Crystal likes to call herself a “developing developer”, she’s a lifetime learning and is currently digging into JavaScript and fighting the patriarchy and imposter syndrome one key stroke at a time.
Crystal Martin landed her first job in tech helping women learn code, but there was just one problem, no one would listen to her in meetings. "Why is it that 41% of women leave the tech field within their tenth year? In my opinion, it's because of messages like keep your head down and say nothing." In this energetic talk, Martin pushes for women to advocate for one another in the workplace, stressing that hard work does not speak for itself--you do.