Marlin Williams

Marlin G. Williams has over 20 years experience as a Global Diversity and Inclusion Officer for two Fortune 500 Organizations, speaker, media contributor, Deputy Chief Information Officer and Technology Entrepreneur. Passionate about diversity, inclusion, and empowering women in tech, Marlin founded Sisters Code. Most recently Marlin was appointed to serve as the Diversity and Inclusion Entrepreneur-In- Residence for TechTown Detroit.

After college, Marlin was an aspiring mortician until she learned to code in seven languages in 13-weeks. In less than a year she emerged as a mainframe programmer developing and maintaining code for the automotive and banking industry. During this time Marlin noticed that she was often the only woman and person of color at the technology table, thus her passion for diversity and inclusion emerged. Marlin was ultimately asked to serve as the first Global Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for Compuware Corporation and later held the same position at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

During her time as the Deputy Chief Information Officer for the City of Detroit, Marlin and her team successfully developed the City’s first e- government initiative and led the collaboration across ten unique agencies to support the technology and infrastructure required for Super Bowl XL.

Marlin founded Sisters Code with a simple goal to educate, empower, and entice women ages 25 – 85 to explore the world of coding and technology. Essentially she wanted to “Awaken the Mature Geek.” Most recently Sisters Code was featured on MSNBC highlighting their effort to bridge the gender gap in tech and empower women to believe they could excel in the field of technology. Marlin is also the co- founder of CodeConnect. Code Connect is a single site that connects people exploring the tech industry with education and training resources, job opportunities, and other people who are on the same journey. We believe that we can bridge the diversity gap in tech by providing the resources and guidance to untapped talent.

As a diversity and inclusion leader Marlin works passionately to bridge the racial and gender gap in technology by engaging organizations and the tech ecosystem in candid conversations related to barriers, unconscious bias, real experiences, and solutions to create an inclusive environment for “untapped” individuals and communities.

Marlin’s speaking and media contributions include Microsoft Corporation, SXSW, Techonomy, MSNBC, Meeting of the Minds, Yes We Code and WDIV amongst others.