Janice Levenhagen, Founder and CEO of ChickTech
As the CEO and founder of a national nonprofit that empowers girls and women in technology, and mom to son Nathan (16) and daughter Catlin (9)—Janice knows exactly what it takes to be a supermom. She turned her experiences with discrimination, bias, and harassment in the tech industry into inspiration for a business that changes the lives of girls and women across the country. Janice’s company, Chick Tech, is dedicated to increasing the number of women and girls pursuing technology-based careers by offering workshops, mentoring and community support that helps young women find and foster their potential as future leaders in tech. Chick Tech currently has 14 chapters and is continuing to grow rapidly. Janice says, “ChickTech is my way of standing up for other women and girls and giving them the career opportunities and support that I wish had been in place for me.”
ChickTech isn’t Janice’s only big accomplishment, after becoming pregnant as a teen, she managed to find the right support, get enrolled in college and earn her MBA all while raising her son. Janice says she finds balance in life by fostering independence in her family whenever possible. This approach has paid off nicely and now her son cooks over half of the dinners each week so when she ends up in an evening meeting, her family isn’t waiting on her to eat.
