Leanne Pittsford is a powerhouse entrepreneur and LGBT activist with a passion for diversity and inclusion in the tech industry. With over a decade of experience in fundraising, marketing, and management, she is the founder and CEO behind Lesbians Who Tech, a global community of over 100,000 LGBTQ professionals in tech and allies. She also launched include, a mentoring and recruiting platform designed to fight bias in technology, and the Tech Jobs Tour, a nationwide initiative connecting diverse talent to over 600,000 open jobs.

Leanne is a strong advocate for non-binary, LGBTQ women, and queer women of color, who are often underrepresented in tech companies. Her work includes innovative programs such as the Edie Windsor Coding Scholarship Fund, which provides coding scholarships for underrepresented candidates, and the #SQUAD leadership program focusing on supporting members as they move into senior roles.

After managing data and teaching herself to build online fundraising tools for Equality California, Leanne fell in love with tech and founded her own digital agency, Start Somewhere. She also started leanimpact.org, which was acquired by Lean Startup in 2016. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo and an M.A. in Education: Equity and Social Justice from San Francisco State University.