86% of AI's Most Vulnerable Workers Are Women. So Why Are We Still Asking for Permission?

THIS ISSUE AT A GLANCE

• Honoring Dr. Marian Croak → Meet the engineer whose 200+ patents built the foundation of VoIP and text-to-donate technology, powering every video call, remote meeting, and crisis response we rely on today!

• 86% of AI's Most Vulnerable Workers Are Women 👀 → A look at the global state of AI displacement, and what’s advantaging those who adapt.

• This Week with CreateHER Fest → This week’s sessions that you NEED to watch TWICE if you can!

• Resource Drop 📚 → Indigenous Pathfinders in AI (deadline Feb 18), AI Ventures Accelerator, ETHWomen 2026, and Select Global Women in Tech Mentorship!

Black HERstory Month

Honoring the woman whose innovation and impact built the foundation of modern technology, this week Dr. Marian Croak.

Dr. Marian Croak, PhD holds over 200 patents and is the pioneering force behind Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP): the technology that transformed how the entire world communicates. During her three decades at AT&T Bell Labs, Dr. Croak predicted that the internet would revolutionize telecommunications and set out to make it happen. Her innovations converted voice into digital signals that could travel across networks instead of traditional phone lines, laying the groundwork for every video call, remote meeting, and internet-based conversation we have today. From Zoom to FaceTime to WhatsApp, Dr. Croak's work powers billions of connections daily, technology that became essential infrastructure overnight during the global pandemic.

Her vision extended beyond connectivity for its own sake. Watching Hurricane Katrina devastate New Orleans in 2005, Dr. Croak developed text-to-donate technology, creating a way for people to send immediate financial support through their phones. What started as a response to crisis became a lifeline: after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, her technology raised $43 million in relief donations. At AT&T, she rose to Senior Vice President, managing over 2,000 engineers and 500 programs. In 2022, she became one of the first two Black women inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Today, as Vice President of Engineering at Google, she leads the Research Center for Responsible AI and Human Centered Technology, expanding internet access to underserved regions across Asia and Africa—still driven by the belief that technology should improve people's lives.

At CreateHER Fest, part of our work is to make sure stories like Dr. Croak's are not just remembered, but amplified until they become the norm rather than the exception. When we convene builders around frontier technology, we're standing on the infrastructure Dr. Croak helped create—carrying forward her insistence that innovation must serve humanity. By lifting up her legacy in our programs, stages, and curricula, we're helping a new generation see themselves not just as participants in tech, but as architects of the future.

86% of AI's Most Vulnerable Workers Are Women. But Not for the Reason You Think.

Somewhere between that motivational LinkedIn post telling you AI is "an opportunity for everyone" and the headline that just dropped saying women will be the first ones replaced by it — there's something nobody is actually to saying out loud.

The Numbers

Last month, the Brookings Institution published an analysis of 37 million U.S. workers in AI-exposed roles. Of those, roughly 6.1 million have what researchers call "low adaptive capacity", meaning if AI displaces them, they'll have the hardest time bouncing back. Limited savings. Fewer transferable skills. Narrower reemployment options.​

86% of those “low adaptive capacity” workers are women.

Not because women are less capable, but because the roles women have been funneled into and disproportionately fill, i.e. administrative, clerical, back-office etc. are the exact roles AI automates first.

What's Actually Going On

A separate study published in PNAS Nexus (out of Northeastern University) revealed findings that showed women to be more skeptical of AI than men, but also that the gender gap in AI attitudes completely disappeared when the economic outcomes were made clear and certain.

So basically, when researchers explained to participants that AI would in fact create jobs (not just take them away), men and women responded identically.

Their skepticism wasn’t about technology, it was about trust. Women aren't afraid of AI. Women are uncertain about whether they'll be included in the upside. And in all honestly, that uncertainty is warranted.

What Makes the Difference

The Brookings analysis could trend which key factors separated workers who could adapt from those who couldn’t: liquid savings, transferable skills, access to diverse job markets, and age. The workers with the highest adaptive capacity were web developers, marketing managers, financial analysts, information security analysts; i.e. skillsets that traverse industries. The workers with the lowest were administrative and clerical roles like secretaries, clerks, receptionists'; i.e. specialized, siloed functions that are harder to pivot from, and uncoincidentally 85–96% female. Adaptive capacity correlates through skills that travel: data analysis, project management, digital fluency, strategic thinking. The gap between vulnerability and resilience is the pipeline, and though women are concentrated where we've been historically funneled, these pipelines can be redirected.​

Why This Week Matters

Tomorrow is February 11th, ironically both my birthday and the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. In 2016, the world observed this day for the first time. Now a decade later, the 2026 theme is "Synergizing AI, Social Science, STEM and Finance: Building Inclusive Futures for Women and Girls", as the United Nations hosts its live global event under the banner “From Vision to Impact: Redefining STEM by Closing the Gender Gap.” Their sessions will cover everything from AI to cybersecurity and entrepreneurship.

Still, 86% is a devastating number. But read it differently and it's also a map, showing exactly where the workforce is brittle, where the skills gaps are widest, and where those who build adaptive capacity will have the most leverage.

That ceiling clearly isn’t yours, because you’re already here. And while the rest of the world is publishing reports about what women can't do, you're already proving what happens when we build.

CreateHER Fest was born from the belief that women have, and will always belong at the center of innovation; as the architects leading, scrutinizing, and shaping the future of frontier technology. Not guests. But what matters between the data, the global stage, and the work you're already doing — we both know that belief isn't just conviction anymore.

Because you’re the evidence.

This Week with CreateHER Fest

1. Voice & Pitch for Power (Dont Sleep On This One!)

   Sunday, February | Mellini Monique

   Practice vocal presence and pitch strategies that turn complex technical ideas into clear, executive-ready narratives—build confidence, advocate for your work, and amplify your impact.

2. Building With Care: AI Ethics (#75HER Hackathon Prep!)

   Tuesday, February 10 | Darlyze Calixte & Camille Catania

   Learn how bias shows up in AI, define who your technology impacts, and apply a practical ethics checklist to build and ship responsibly; Nicole Jackson

   Catch The Replay

3. Marketing in a Digital World (WILL NOT BE RECORDED)

   Thursday, February 12 | LaTrese Steplight

   Clarify your project or business digital presence, identify your audience, and build intentional strategies for meaningful visibility, connection, and growth.

COMMUNITY SURVEY

Enjoyed it? Share us with your network!

THIS WEEK’S RESOURCES

• Service to Success Virtual Military and Federal Hiring Fair

  • 7-week in-person AI training program at Mila - Quebec AI Institute in Montreal for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis talent. Learn technical and human dimensions of AI while exploring Indigenous AI and cultural components. Includes $5,800 stipend plus travel and accommodation coverage. Deadline: February 18, 2026 https://mila.awardsplatform.com/

• AI Ventures Accelerator 2026

  • In one week, applications open for the SEO Tech Developer: First-Year Academy — an eight-week virtual training program designed to help first-year students learn Python, gain confidence, and explore the world of tech. https://www.technovation.org/ai-ventures-accelerator/

• ETHWomen 2026

  • FREE community hybrid event (online + in-person) focused on women in blockchain. Female-focused and inclusive hackathon using Web3 technology, open to both developers and non-developers (beginner to expert level). Includes free tickets to Blockchain Futurist Conference. https://ethwomen.com

• Select Global Women in Tech Mentorship Network 2026

  • Structured yearly mentorship program for women in tech with kick-off at SelectUSA Investment Summit. Mentee-led matching algorithm prioritizes expertise alignment. Deadline: March 2026 https://www.trade.gov/select-global-women-tech

Until next time,

Discover \ Design \ Deliver