Erica Baker facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Erica Baker
Baker and Internetdagama 2016.
Born	1980 (age 44–45) Germany
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Alaska
Occupation	Software engineer
Spouse(s)	B Astrella

Erica Joy Baker (born in 1980) is a talented engineer. She works in the San Francisco Bay Area. Currently, she is the Chief Technology Officer for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Erica is well-known for supporting diversity and inclusion in the tech world.

She has worked at many big companies. These include GitHub, Google, Slack, Patreon, and Microsoft. Erica became famous in 2015. This was when she started a special spreadsheet at Google. Employees used it to share their salary information. This helped them understand if pay was fair. A writer named Kara Swisher even called Erica the "woman to watch."

Education and Early Learning

When Erica was in high school, she took a fun class. It taught her how to program calculators. She learned to code in a language called BASIC. She used Texas Instruments graphing calculators. She also learned how to build websites. She even hosted her own sites on GeoCities.

Erica first went to the University of Miami. She studied Computer Science. She later transferred to the University of Alaska. There, she earned a degree in Information Technology.

Erica's Career Journey

Erica's first job was at the University of Alaska. She was 21 years old. She helped manage computer systems. After that, she worked at Home Depot. She helped with network operations and mobile devices. Then, she moved to Scientific Games. There, she provided desktop support.

Working at Google

Erica worked at Google from 2006 to 2015. She had different jobs there. Her last role was a Site Reliability Engineer. In July 2015, after leaving Google, Erica shared something important. She tweeted about a spreadsheet she started at Google.

This spreadsheet let employees share their salaries. Many co-workers used it to get fair pay raises. Erica said her colleagues tried to give her special bonuses for this. But her managers did not approve them. The spreadsheet made people talk about pay differences at Google. It also showed how pay might differ based on gender or background. The spreadsheet was still used until 2017. Its information was even shared in The New York Times.

After Google

From 2015 to 2017, Erica worked at Slack. She was a build and release engineer. In 2016, she helped accept an award for Slack. It was for being the "Fastest Rising Startup."

Later, news reports said Erica would join Kickstarter. But she decided to stay in the San Francisco Bay Area. She became a Senior Engineering Manager at Patreon. In 2019, Erica joined Microsoft. She became a Principal Group Engineering Manager there. In March 2021, Erica became the Chief Technology Officer for the DCCC.

Supporting Diversity and Inclusion

After leaving Google, Erica became a strong voice for diversity and inclusion. She writes about it on her blog and speaks publicly. She started a Twitter movement called #RealDiversityNumbers. This aimed to get real numbers from companies. It looked at how many diverse employees they kept.

Erica has also spoken out about how some companies handle diversity. She believes that true change is needed. She was one of the people who started Project Include in 2016. This group helps companies create better diversity strategies.

Public Speaking and Appearances

Erica has been interviewed by many news outlets. She spoke at the WIRED Business Conference in 2016. In 2017, she was a main speaker at a conference for Women of Color in Computing. She also spoke at the Bond Conference in 2018. Erica was a featured speaker at a Berkeley Center panel. She also spoke at The Wall Street Journal's Women in the Workplace Forum. In February 2021, she even appeared on the TV show Jeopardy! as a guest presenter.

Helping Others

Erica helps many organizations. She is on the board of directors for Girl Develop It. This group teaches women how to code. She is also on the advisory board of Hack the Hood. She is a tech mentor for Black Girls Code. This group teaches coding to young Black girls.

Awards and Recognition

Erica Baker was named one of the BBC's 100 Women in 2020. This list celebrates inspiring women worldwide. She also won the Level Playing Field Institute Lux Award in 2015.

Personal Life

Erica moved a lot when she was a child. She was born in Germany. Her parents were in the US Air Force. They were stationed there. Then, her family lived in New Mexico, Florida, and Alaska. Erica started writing stories when she was a teenager.

Erica got married while in college in Alaska. In 2021, she married her current husband, B Astrella.

Erica is very interested in her family's history. She has spent over ten years researching her genealogy. She hopes to help other African American families find their roots too.

See also

In Spanish: Erica Baker para niños