Following from the recent discussions about women in tech, I’ve been charged with putting together a list of the “Most Important Women” in tech for the magazine I work for. The measure of who is important comes down to several factors. Notability is a big one, but also a personal actions/activities or influence in the tech world. Women spearheading promising start ups, women involved in research and development of important technologies, even women who work within systems to make them more accessible or friendly to those outside of the majority.

Obviously there are a lot of women who fit these descriptions, and I’m sure there are other criteria for what makes a woman “important” in tech. Which is why I’ve come to you.

I have a preliminary list, but I welcome any suggestions from the GeekFeminism community. I spend a lot of time working with consumer electronics, so I don’t always know who the superstars in the Linux community are, for instance, or who is working on tech projects that haven’t yet made it to the consumer level.

Please leave your suggestions in the comments with links, if you have them, to pertinent information about the women you’re suggesting. The only overarching criteria I have is that the women have to be current — so no Ada Lovelace, even though she deserves to be on the list!