News Provided by XR Connected
On International Women’s Day, XR Women, a collective of women and allies in XR, officially became an initiative of the Immersive Learning Research Network, a global nonprofit whose mission is to connect educators, developers, and researchers to develop the scientific, technical, and applied potential of immersive learning.
XR Women is committed to educating, connecting, uplifting, and inspiring women working in XR and those who have yet to join the industry. XR Women meets every Wednesday on the iLRN Campus in the Virbela virtual platform to celebrate the successes of women in XR, share events and job postings, foster collaborations, and, once per month, host a Self-Care Wednesday.
“At a time when women’s participation in the workforce is slipping, the XR industry is growing by leaps and bounds. At XR Women we want to empower women to enter – and succeed – in XR, and we are coming together to make that happen,” says co-founder and Executive Team member Karen Alexander. “Our future initiatives include workshops to enhance skills and events to connect women with recruiters in XR. We are grateful to iLRN for giving us the (virtual) space and support to carry out this important work.”
XR Women was founded by Julie Smithson, Sarah Klein, and Sophia Moshasha, along with Alexander. For the upcoming 7th International Conference of iLRN (May 17 – June 10, 2021) XR Women is ensuring robust representation of women among the speakers and will give awards in several categories. The 2020 iLRN conference was the first to be held on its virtual campus and attracted 3,600 registrants from around the globe.
“We are super excited about this new partnership,” said Jonathon Richter, CEO of iLRN. “The XR Women mission, expertise, and presence is already vital to our ecosystem.”
To sponsor the work of XR Women, please contact Karen Alexander: Karen@immersivelrn.org.