SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — For the first time ever, the Dreamforce conference hosted a women’s leadership summit on Thursday. The final speaker used the opportunity to make a big announcement about her own company.
“We are a company, at the end of the day it’s for women,” Jessica Alba told attendees of the event.
Alba runs The Honest Company, which makes eco-friendly baby and beauty products. On Thursday, she talked about something companies in Silicon Valley don’t often to: The need for more women in tech.
One way she plans to attract more women to her startup is longer paid leave. Alba announced that starting in 2016, her company will offer 16 weeks of paid maternity and paternity leave.
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki joined Alba on the Dreamforce stage to chat with CBS anchor Gayle King.
The two bosses believe computer science should be a basic skill taught in schools. And bosses too, need to do their part.
“It has to come from the leaders that are in Silicon Valley, I think it has to come from the top where the leaders of the companies, the managers of the companies say we believe in diversity,” Wojcicki said.
It’s something that many Salesforce employees say they’re already seeing at the cloud computing company.
“It’s kind of very great right now, because they have a lot of programs that are promoting women in technology so women feel special when they are in this field,” said Salesforce software engineer Mimansha Bhergav.
