The Story of SheWritesAI: Building a Home for Women in AI

How a single message grew into a movement of 500+ voices

How It Started

On December 19, 2024, having finished my holiday shopping, I was relaxing by browsing Substack articles about one of my passions, AI (artificial intelligence). (Yes, that’s relaxing for me. Proud data geek here!) I came across a post by an author I won’t name. He asked four questions of 10 Substack authors writing about AI, and recommended subscribing to them.

Care to guess how many of the 10 were women?

Yeah, none.

That didn’t sit right with me. So I sent a private message to the author of the post.

“Hi XXX, your piece XXXXXXXX was interesting. I noticed that all ten people appear to be men. With so many women working in AI nowadays, it was disappointing to see an article with none. Something to consider for future?”

His response?

“Certainly! These were all people I had connected with on Substack and unfortunately both in the field of AI and writing about it on Substack there are far more men than women. I’m glad to connect with you, Karen!”

He’s not wrong that “unfortunately, both in the field of AI and writing about it on Substack, there are far more men than women.” And that’s not as it should be. But I knew I was far from the only woman working in AI and data AND writing about it on Substack.

I was already subscribed to 33 newsletters, by 34 women from eight countries, who wrote about AI and data on Substack — some having thousands of subscribers. We’re way above 10%, so logically, at least one of 10 should have been a woman. But he (and others) literally didn’t see us.

I’d seen starter lists of women in STEM on sites like Bluesky. But I realized I didn’t know of any lists for women in AI on Substack yet. So I created one! It was easy; I seeded it with the 34 women writers I already subscribed to. As a friend kindly pointed out after it was published, I actually forgot to include myself on my initial list.

Where are the Women in AI and Data on Substack? See "She Writes AI"!

My goal was to make it easier for people of all genders to find women and non-binary people who write on Substack about AI, ML, ethics, governance, data privacy, and related technology: no excuses for not knowing any. When I posted it to Substack Notes later that day and tagged the women in the list, it took off!

How It’s Going

Thanks to many encouraging responses, I began sharing the directory link beyond Substack, first to LinkedIn, then to Bluesky and Mastodon. Through a combination of recommendations, suggestions from women and from male allies, and some tedious searching, the directory has grown to 500+ women and nonbinary folks in 50+ countries. The directory now includes a searchable table with LinkedIn profiles, Bluesky handles, podcast links, book links, and more.

• 💻Use the searchable, filterable directory table

• 🌐Interactive world map

• 🇺🇸USA state map

Growing Pains

The directory was originally published as a single permanent post in my personal newsletter. At first, I posted updates in Substack Notes and on LinkedIn. However, as the directory grew to 400, it became clear we needed a better way to keep interested readers and the community informed, whether they use Substack Notes or not. I also wanted to make it easier for volunteers to participate in helping to run the directory and community.

So in mid-June, I spun up this new SheWritesAI profile and newsletter, and migrated the directory there. (Initial post: 2025-06-15 SheWritesAI Directory Update: 445 writers in 50+ countries)

I also realized we needed a more efficient way to collect the information, update the directory, and share the update posts. So I set up a Google Form where people could fill in the information they wanted in their directory entry.

This not only allows them to actively opt-in and gives them control over how their newsletter is described, but it also saves me the time of browsing around on Substack and elsewhere to find relevant links to include. Some simple workbook formulas bring the data from the form into the workbook that drives the visualizations, and made constructing the Substack notes and LinkedIn post updates easier.

What Is SheWritesAI?

So what is She Writes AI? The directory is a living list of women & non-binary people worldwide who write on Substack about artificial intelligence, machine learning, & data on ethics, privacy, governance, applications, & business. But we’re not just a directory. Our vision is for SheWritesAI to be a thriving, accessible community for women and nonbinary folks worldwide who write about AI and data, to help their voices be heard. In a nutshell, the goal of this SheWritesAI publication is to support the growing She Writes AI community of writers and the people interested in their writing.

Newsletter Community Features

All additions to the directory are now published as individual, dated articles in this new SheWritesAI newsletter. The She Writes AI Directory link will always have the latest info and links (bookmark or ‘Save’ it), and the searchable table is the easiest way to find people writing about topics of interest.

One of the other challenges that came with this abundance of writers: how to actually keep up with 500+ newsletters! In a typical week, these writers create over 200 articles. Even when I subscribed to all of them, whether I relied on the Substack app or got emails in my inbox, it was too easy to miss posts from interesting writers.

A solution we’re experimenting with, thanks to SheWritesAI community member Karen Spinner and her StackDigest tool: generate a weekly digest post that contains links to all articles by directory members. This makes it so much easier to find articles of interest, especially newer writers whose voices might otherwise be lost in the shuffle.

We now offer:

• Regular directory update posts (subscribe to get these automatically), about every 1-2 weeks. Example: 2025-09-21 SheWritesAI Directory Update

• A weekly digest of posts by SheWritesAI authors (subscribe to get these automatically). Example: 2025-09-22 Weekly SheWritesAI Digest

• A SheWritesAI community in the AI Vanguard Society (thanks to Michael Spencer for hosting our spaces)

• SheWritesAI profile on Bluesky that we use to highlight new directory additions and digests. Directory members are also added to our SheWritesAI Starter Pack to make it easier for people to find and follow them.

For an explanation of community features and how they intersect, see this post. Or join the SheWritesAI Public Lounge and dive into the conversations!

Future Community Features

Now that this newsletter is officially launched, we’re envisioning adding community features based on mutual interests (for example: “AI in education”).

We’re currently planning a collaborative book and planning to roll out a SheWritesAI presence on LinkedIn. Updates will be shared with subscribers first.

Some of the ideas under consideration are:

• topic articles curated by directory members on a subject related to AI and data that they’re passionate about

• curated regional articles that highlight the variety of posts within a country or geography

• mentoring for new writers by experienced writer volunteers

• small group chats or AMAs for directory members only.

Curated articles will initially be shared about once a month. Building and supporting this community is a volunteer labor of love, and all activities will depend on volunteer availability and interest. (The nomination form now includes asking people about their interests in volunteering.)

Useful Links for SheWritesAI

• ➡️ Join the SheWritesAI directory (self-nomination)

• 💻Use the searchable, filterable directory table

• 🌐Interactive world map & USA state map

• 🛋️ SheWritesAI Public Lounge on Mighty Networks

• SheWritesAI on Bluesky (see our SheWritesAI Starter Pack)

Next Steps

• Do you know anyone who belongs in the directory? Send them the self-nomination link!

• Want to be in the loop for directory updates and weekly digests? Subscribe to quickly find articles that interest you & new writers to subscribe to!

• Looking for thoughtful conversations about AI from diverse perspectives? Join our Subscriber chat or AI Vanguard Society space!

• Know an organization that supports women in tech that might like to be a sponsor for our collaborative book? Please connect KayStoner or myself, Karen Smiley, with a contact!

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We’re so grateful to Karen Smiley for allowing us to share her story here on Code Like A Girl. On top of running SheWritesAI, Karen also runs two other publications. You can check them out below!

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