BySenators Kuderer, Cleveland, Fortunato, Hasegawa, Hunt, Kauffman, Keiser, Lovick, Nobles, Saldaña, Shewmake, Torres, Valdez, Wellman, and C. Wilson

WHEREAS, Women in Cloud is a woman-led, grassroots economic development organization founded in Seattle, Washington aiming to create $1,000,000,000 in economic access and opportunity for women entrepreneurs by 2030, of which they have already achieved valuation of more than $500,000,000; and

WHEREAS, Women in Cloud is paving the way for the next generation of women entrepreneurs and professionals in the tech industry, community leadership, and lawmaking; and

WHEREAS, Harvard Business Review found that the unique perspectives provided by a diverse team bring together innovative ideas and harbors greater creativity; and

WHEREAS, Forbes reports that in 2021 women accounted for only 34.4 percent of the workforce at the five largest tech companies despite making up 47 percent of the total workforce and 50 percent of the population in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Statistics such as these illustrate that the underrepresentation of women in tech professional fields persists; and

WHEREAS, Women in Cloud strives to ignite economic success with their ESG Women's Leadership Program, which brings together women from a diverse range of fields, including politics, technology, and business; and

WHEREAS, Women in Cloud has grown to a community of over 70,000 members, giving them a powerful platform to align their skills and talents with opportunities to put more women in leadership roles; and

WHEREAS, Women in Cloud recognizes these women as sources of inspiration and empowerment for young women and girls to pursue careers in professional and technological fields; and

WHEREAS, The Women in Cloud Annual Summit has become one of the world's most influential conferences and a celebration of the advancements of women as industry leaders; and

WHEREAS, Bringing together over 1,000 international participants and speakers from over 25 countries, the Annual Summit facilitates curated and organic connections to make way for economic development; and

WHEREAS, Women in Cloud attempted a Guinness World Records title for the most users in a vision board video hangout during their 2023 Annual Summit with 535 people developing a vision board in two attempts; and

WHEREAS, Women in Cloud is an industry leading platform for women and allies to gain access to the knowledge, leaders, and networks necessary to build successful and responsible businesses in a new era of technological advancement;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate recognize the extraordinary accomplishments of Women in Cloud, the powerful community of women luminaires this initiative is creating, and the strides being made in the pursuit of increased representation of women leaders in professional and technological fields; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to Women in Cloud.