What The Ada Initiative does

The Ada Initiative was a US 501(c)3 non-profit organization that supported women in open technology and culture. Founded in January 2011 by Mary Gardiner and Valerie Aurora, the organization operated for approximately four and a half years before shutting down in October 2015. Its core products included the Ally Skills Workshop, Impostor Syndrome training, conference anti-harassment policy resources, the AdaCamp unconference series, and the AdaCamp Toolkit. All of its materials were released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike, meaning they were freely available for reuse, modification, and redistribution by third parties.

The organization ran community-facing events and facilitator training programs rather than selling products. During its operating period, it trained more than 2,000 people through the Ally Skills Workshop, trained 40+ facilitators, held seven AdaCamps across four continents (Melbourne, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Portland, Berlin, Bangalore, and Montreal), and engaged 500+ women in its unconference events. The organization's resources were adopted by thousands of open-source and technology conferences as the basis for their anti-harassment policies.

The Ada Initiative's business model was donation-based rather than commercial, with no pricing, subscription, or licensing fees attached to any of its offerings. The organization employed 11-50 staff during its operating period and was led by co-founders Mary Gardiner and Valerie Aurora, with Sumana Harihareswara serving as a Director. The organization is no longer operational, having ceased activities in October 2015.

Name

The Ada Initiative

Legal name

The Ada Initiative

Website

https://adainitiative.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Ada Initiative was a US 501(c)3 non-profit (2011-2015) that supported women in open technology and culture through free workshops, training programs, unconferences, and conference policy resources released under Creative Commons licensing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and charitable contributions: As a United States 501(c)3 charitable organization, The Ada Initiative operated primarily through donations and charitable contributions from supporters. The organization shut down in October 2015.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Ada Initiative delivered in-person ally skills workshops, training materials on overcoming Impostor Syndrome, an example conference anti-harassment policy, and the AdaCamp unconference series to support women in open technology and culture. All materials were provided free of charge under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike license. The organization's operations ran from 2011 to 2015.

Product overview

The Ada Initiative was a not-for-profit organization (2011-2015) that provided training materials, resources, and events to support women in open technology and culture. Its core offerings included the Ally Skills Workshop (teaching men to support women), Impostor Syndrome training (helping women overcome self-doubt), and conference anti-harassment policy resources. The organization also ran AdaCamp unconferences and created the AdaCamp Toolkit for community use. All materials were released under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike license for reuse and adaptation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ally Skills Workshop An in-person workshop teaching men simple, everyday ways to support women in their workplaces and communities through discussion of 5-10 specific scenarios. Taught by experienced facilitators to 15-50 participants over 3 hours, with teaching materials available under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike license.
• Impostor Syndrome training Training materials including slides, facilitator's guide, and handout to help women in open technology and culture overcome Impostor Syndrome. Includes values affirmation writing exercises based on Miyake et al's research on stereotype threat.
• Conference anti-harassment policy resources Example conference anti-harassment policy created collaboratively by Ada Initiative co-founders and community members, available for modification and reuse by conference organizers. Includes free ebook titled "How to Respond to Code of Conduct Reports" by Mary Gardiner and Valerie Aurora.
• AdaCamp A two-day unconference dedicated to increasing women's participation in open technology and culture, including open source software, Wikipedia, open knowledge, open government, open hardware, and creative fan culture. Seven AdaCamps were held from 2012 to 2015.
• AdaCamp Toolkit Licensed Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike toolkit providing tools and resources for running events similar to AdaCamp unconferences.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 2,000 people trained in Ally Skills Workshop between 2011 and 2015
• +4 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• AnitaB.org (formerly Anita Borg Institute): AnitaB.org is the largest US-based nonprofit focused on advancing women in technology, operating the Grace Hopper Celebration and systemic-change research programs. It is broadly comparable to The Ada Initiative as a sister women-in-tech nonprofit but operates at far greater scale, broader scope, and an active (non-shuttered) organizational vehicle.
• National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT): NCWIT is a coalition of more than 1,200 organizations working to increase women's participation in computing through research, programs, and advocacy. It overlaps with Ada Initiative's mission of supporting women in technology and culture but addresses a broader computing-education pipeline rather than the open-source/free-culture niche.
• Women in Technology International (WITI): WITI is a global professional organization that supports women in technology through networking events, executive coaching, and career resources. It is comparable to Ada Initiative as a women-in-tech membership-style organization but operates at substantially larger scale and broader corporate-networked scope.

Others

• Conference Anti-Harassment Working Group / Geek Feminism Wiki: The Geek Feminism Wiki host the conference anti-harassment policy resource page that Ada Initiative co-founders helped author and promote, listing hundreds of adopting conferences. It is directly adjacent as the canonical documentation hub of the policy standard that was one of Ada Initiative's primary deliverables.

Direct peers

• Women Who Tech: Women Who Tech is a nonprofit that runs virtual events, programs, and grants funding to bring women and underrepresented groups into technology leadership through community-building and corporate partnerships. Its community-driven, donation-supported activism model and focus on conference-style programming mirror Ada Initiative's Ally Skills and AdaCamp format.
• Girl Develop It: Girl Develop It is a nonprofit that taught affordable software development workshops to women and non-binary adults through chapters in multiple cities, supported by volunteer instructors and donations. It is highly comparable to Ada Initiative as a community-led workshop-training nonprofit, though focused on coding skills rather than ally skills and anti-harassment work.
• Code2040: Code2040 is a nonprofit focused on activating, connecting, and mobilizing the largest community of Black and Latinx technologists through fellowships, career programs, and community events. It is comparable to Ada Initiative as a community-driven diversity-in-tech training and convening nonprofit operating programs aimed at underrepresented technical communities.
• PyLadies: PyLadies is a global mentorship group with local chapters dedicated to helping more women become active participants and leaders in the Python open-source community. It addresses the same women-in-open-source-tech pain points as The Ada Initiative, operates via in-person meetups and events, and is closely aligned on target audience and free-culture orientation.
• Outreachy: Outreachy (formerly GNOME Outreach Program for Women) is a paid internship program supporting people from underrepresented groups in open-source and free-culture communities, run via community sponsorship. It is a direct thematic peer to The Ada Initiative, both being community-led free/open-source-software diversity programs operating in the same ideological and ecosystem space.
• ChickTech: ChickTech is a nonprofit running in-person technology programs, workshops, and community events to support women and girls in tech, including high-school hackathons and adult-skills workshops. Its workshop-and-community-driven, donation-funded model closely mirrors The Ada Initiative's Ally Skills Workshop and AdaCamp format.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/adainitiative
• Facebookfacebook.com/adainitiative
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/1868701

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Ada Initiative