free tickets to DeveloperWeek NYC (+ the AI job readiness answers you asked for)

Vonage partnership, free tickets, hackathons, and the career identity question everyone's been avoiding.

THIS ISSUE AT A GLANCE

  • Something New → We’re partnering with Vonage — and they’re gifting us 30 free tickets to DeveloperWeek NYC on June 9–10. First come, first served!

  • Something Borrowed → The job readiness panel extended answers are live. All the questions we didn't get to, answered async by Jazmine, Khushboo, and Neha.

  • Resource Drop 📚 → Free Lovable Pro for LinkedIn Premium users, a Stripe Privacy Fellowship, two hackathons worth $72K in prizes, and 4 more.

  • From the CreateHER Community: 💬 → "I have a mixed background — how do I stop looking scattered?" Khushboo Nigam answers, and gives you one thing to try this week.

Hey CreateHER’s,

This week we have a lot to get into! A new community partnership that unlocks real opportunities for you, the recording and extended answers from last week's job readiness panel, a new section debuting today, and the usual resources from around the ecosystem!

📣 Something New: Partnership with Vonage!

CreateHER Fest is now an official community partner with Vonage (part of Ericsson), one of the largest communications API platforms in the world. Here's what that means in practice:

  • Free tickets to tech conferences like DeveloperWeek NYC, June 9–10, 2026 — claimed directly by you, right now

  • API credits for your projects, coming soon through future programming

  • In-person and virtual events throughout the year, built around the Vonage tech ecosystem

  • Learning pathway access — structured skill-building to learn the latest from Vonage Developers!

The 30 tickets are first-come, first-served. NYC Developer Week is a two-day developer conference — if you're in or near New York (or willing to make the trip), this is the move.

🤝 Something Borrowed: Job Readiness Panel Recap

Jazmine Walker, Khushboo Nigam, and Neha Rathi covered the things most career advice skips over: how AI is screening your resume before a human ever sees your name, what hiring managers actually think when they see a non-traditional background, how to read job descriptions like wish lists instead of perfect filters, and how to negotiate when the system is already betting you won't. The recording is now available! Check it out today!

💬 From the CreateHER Community

Last week's panel with Jazmine Walker, Khushboo Nigam, and Neha Rathi — ran long on questions we didn't get to live.

So we collected the answers async! All three panelists weighed in on the questions the community submitted during registration — negotiating as a woman of color, using AI in your job search without losing your voice, what the remote job market actually looks like right now, and more.

This week's question (submitted during Job Readiness Panel):

"For someone with a mixed background, maybe tech and marketing, design and AI, community and product — how do you avoid looking scattered while still keeping multiple doors open?"

A mixed background is not necessarily a weakness. In many cases, it becomes your differentiator. The key is learning how to connect the dots between your experiences instead of presenting them as unrelated pieces. For example, someone with experience in both technology and communication may be strong at translating complex systems for broader audiences. Someone with technical and business exposure may be strong at connecting implementation with real-world impact. What matters most is whether there is a clear narrative behind your experiences and interests.

Khushboo Nigam, Principal Cloud Architect at Oracle:

Try this this week → Write one sentence that connects your two "different" backgrounds into a single value statement. Not a summary of what you've done — a statement of what you uniquely bring because of the combination. That sentence is the thread your resume, LinkedIn, and cover letter should all pull from.

THIS WEEK’S RESOURCES

  • Creating a Strong Password — GitHub's official guide to securing your account. With AI tools getting deeper access to your accounts and repos, this is worth a revisit even if you think you've got it covered. Read the guide →

  • Stripe Privacy Fellow — Paid fellowship at Stripe focused on privacy. If data ethics and privacy law are in your lane, this is a rare opportunity to work on it inside one of the most influential fintech companies in the world. Apply →

  • Free Lovable Pro via LinkedIn Premium — LinkedIn and Lovable just dropped a collab — if you're a LinkedIn Premium subscriber, you get 1 year of Lovable Pro access + 300 credits to start building. Claim your perk →

  • Kiro Ambassadors — Amazon's new AI-powered IDE just launched its ambassador program. If you're already building with AI dev tools and want early access, community perks, and a seat at the table as the product grows — this is worth applying to now while it's new. Learn more →

  • Women AI Founders Program — If you're building a company at the intersection of AI and anything — this program is specifically for you. Applications are open now. Apply →

  • Financial Readiness for Builders — X Space — Web3 Ladies is hosting a conversation on X (Twitter) Spaces this Saturday, May 16 at 7PM WAT on financial readiness while you're building. "I'll figure the money part out later" is a trap — this one's worth tuning in for. Register →

  • MongoDB AI Learning Hub — Free, structured content on how AI integrates with databases and data infrastructure. Good entry point if you're building AI-powered apps and want to understand the data layer. Explore →

  • Google Cloud Rapid Agent Hackathon — $50K in prizes. Build an AI agent that solves any real-world problem using Gemini + Google Cloud. Five partner tracks, beginner-friendly, and you compete within your track — not against 4,000 people. Deadline June 11. Register →

  • FIND EVIL! — SANS Institute — $22K in prizes. AI-powered cyberattacks can compromise a full system in under 8 minutes. Build the autonomous defender that closes that gap. No security background required — the SIFT Workstation handles the tooling. Deadline June 15. Register →

Until next week,

Discover \ Design \ Deliver

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