Lori Mitchell

Founder/President, Black Women in Technology

303 - WITI Spotlights: Women Making Things Happen in Technology, Innovation, Leadership

Lori Pressley-Mitchell created Black Women in Technology (BWiT) as a Meetup group late in 2014, as somewhat of a social experiment. New to Los Angeles and a self-described tech enthusiast, she attended technology events around the city. Much to her surprise, she noticed most of the events were not well attended by Black Women. She asked several women of color why, and found one nagging reason: they didn't know the event was taking place. Ms. Mitchell began to post technology and technology-related events held in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas to BWiT's Meetup page. The postings afford members the support of knowing someone else, like them, would also be attending. Feedback from attendees has been overwhelmingly positive and encouraging.

Ms. Mitchell has worked in technology since 1996. Self-taught to function as a system analyst while a Respiratory Therapist, she eventually returned to school to complete a Bachelor's Degree in Information Systems from Pennsylvania State University. She enjoys working in healthcare IT and is currently an acting operations and implementation manager for a behavioral health company.