Women In Cloud Drives Workforce and Economic Growth In Tech

Women In Cloud is a global network of 120,000 Women Tech Founders, Executives, Tech Professionals, and Allies in 80 countries who are committed to inspiring the tech ecosystem to be an inclusive force for change and take collective action by providing a powerful platform to collaborate, build community engagement and unlock $1B in new net economic access by 2030. Through events and initiatives, Women In Cloud also promotes conversations arounds its focus areas of Cloud Workforce Development, Civic Engagement via Policy Advocacy, Entrepreneurship and Cloud/AI Innovation and Global partnerships with corporations, community leaders, and policy makers. All of which are united by the ESG and UN Sustainable Development Goals that are driven by job creation, diversity and inclusion, technology innovation and sustainability, giving women a powerful platform to accelerate as industry leaders. We are fiscally sponsored by SDG Digital Foundation 501(3c) organization.

Focus Areas

• WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT: Our initiatives in workforce development focused on Cloud, AI, and Cyber have yielded impressive outcomes, including the distribution of over 5000 cloud, AI & Cybersecurity certification scholarships, the delivery of more than 50 executive leadership sessions, and the recognition of over 2,578 women and allies in technology as role models. Additionally, we set a Guinness World Record and received the prestigious Microsoft award.

• ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Our efforts have resulted in 80+ companies becoming Cosell ready, securing over 20M in funding, and creating 1000+ jobs in 5 years. Additionally, 3500 companies benefited from influenced DEI attestations and discovery within Microsoft Marketplaces.

• POLICY ADVOCACY: We have received 4 proclamations in 2 states: Washington and New York and have trained 160 women on policy advocacy.

• FILM & MEDIA: This year, we launched our first qualifying documentary titled 'ICONS,' which highlights the stories of 19 women in the tech industry. 'ICONS' was showcased at HollyShorts and SXSW, earning the distinction of being an Oscar-Qualified short film. Including establishing MXW Film Fund.

• COMMUNITY: At its core, Women In Cloud serves as an economic preparedness platform for women in the tech and film ecosystem. Over the past five years, we have expanded to over 120,000 members spanning 80 countries

Key Facts

Founders:

Chaitra Vedullapalli – Co-Founder & President

Chaitra Vedullapalli is a renowned entrepreneur and a Go-To-Market (GTM) expert, revered for her proficiency in coaching tech corporate leaders and founders. Her skills have guided hundreds of tech companies to leverage cloud marketplaces that have built million-dollar practices. She is the mastermind behind the 4P Cosell GTM Method, a groundbreaking framework designed to develop strategic GTM plans with Microsoft and Google. This method capitalizes on her 20+ years of corporate experience and her success in launching GTM with billions of dollars in economic impact. Chaitra has been invited to speak on various stages including Microsoft Inspire, Google Summit at SXSW, and the United Nations. She’s also been featured in media publications such as Forbes, TechCrunch, and Success magazine. Her achievements have been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2023 WPO Entrepreneur of the Year, Forbes 1000 Next, CIO100 Awards, and Microsoft Prestige Supplier Awards.
Chaitra is a dynamic leader who sits on multiple boards, runs a film fund in influence story narratives, and leads a 100K-strong Women in Cloud ecosystem across 27 countries.

Karen Fassio – Co-Founder

Karen Fassio is a highly accomplished marketing and go-to-market strategist with over 24 years of experience driving innovation and growth in the technology industry. As Principal of Abundant Marketing Collective, Karen helps technology companies and SMBs transform their go-to-market strategies, leading channel transformation and delivering brand, content, and marketing solutions. Her work empowers clients to scale growth through strategic partnerships and innovative approaches.

During her tenure at Microsoft, Karen led transformative initiatives that reshaped the company’s channel ecosystem and global impact. She developed the Build for 2030 Campaign for sustainability, reaching over 10 million people worldwide, and pioneered the Black Partner Growth Initiative to increase representation and drive racial equity in the partner ecosystem. Karen’s contributions to AI-driven growth models earned her three patents, and her leadership extended to programs like Microsoft Cloud Ready, enabling thousands of partners to transition to the Cloud.

Karen is also deeply committed to purpose-driven work. She co-founded and mentors Women in Cloud, focused on unlocking $1 billion in economic impact through women-led solutions, and served on the Executive Board for Friends of Youth. Karen’s mission is to foster inclusive innovation, empower businesses, and create meaningful impact in the tech industry and beyond.

The Story

The Women in Cloud initiative emerged from Ignite WA, an organization focused on helping small businesses in Washington State thrive through digital transformation. During this work, Chaitra Vedullapalli, Karen Fassio, Gavriella Schuster, and other members of Ignite identified persistent challenges for women-led businesses. With a shared vision and countless conversations over coffee, they developed Women in Cloud to address gaps like limited access to customers, markets, and investment opportunities through enterprise distribution channels.

By uniting tech leaders, women entrepreneurs, community leaders, and associations, WiC created a long-term, impactful platform for women to realize their potential. Today, Women in Cloud connects and empowers women in Washington and beyond.

Milestones 

• A global network of over 120,000 Women Tech Founders, Executives, Professionals, and Allies in 80+ countries.

• Guinness World Record: Women in Cloud set the world record for the Most Users in a Vision Board Video Hangout, with 632 users submitting 503 approved vision boards.

• Forbes Next 1000: Chaitra Vedullapalli was recognized as a member of the Forbes Next 1000 class of 2021 for her contributions to entrepreneurship.

• Oscar-Qualifying Achievement: The "ICONS" documentary produced by Women in Cloud was screened at HollyShorts, achieving Oscar-qualifying status.

Successful Strategic Partnerships

Collaborations with top global companies such as Microsoft, Boeing, Avanade, and KPMG. In 2022, WiC received support from Google, Teradata, Meylah, and more.

• WiC’s #WiCxFortune100 initiative creates turn-key equity-advancing solutions for companies to address gender-equity challenges. 

• EY partnered with us as the presenting sponsor for our ESG Signature Summit - #WICxESG2024 AI & Sustainability Leadership Preparedness Summit

• Stella Foundation partnered with us to boost GTM success with Cloud & AI certifications, B2B coaching, and leadership labs for tech companies.

• Microsoft Philanthropies and Women in Cloud jointly sponsor the Women in Cloud Cybersecurity Scholarship to provide women with structured skills development, certification opportunities, and employability readiness coaching. By 2025, more than 5,100 scholarships will be awarded.

WiC Serves

• Women Tech Founders seeking guidance, funding, and industry partnerships.

• Female Professionals looking to advance their careers in the cloud and tech industries.

• Corporations interested in partnering with women-led businesses to support diversity and inclusion initiatives.

• Investors seeking opportunities to fund women-led tech startups and innovations.

• Policy Makers focused on advancing women in leadership roles in technology.