ChIPs is a nonprofit professional organization that advances and connects women in technology, law and policy. We accelerate innovation through diversity of thought, participation and engagement.

Since our founding in 2005, ChIPs has grown to nearly 5,000 members and more than 23 chapters in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Our community comes from the private sector as well as all branches of the government. Our members are engaged at the heart of current events — as active participants in the lawmaking, policymaking, judicial, advocacy and innovation processes.

ChIPs stands for “chiefs in intellectual property,” a key position in corporations overseeing issues surrounding patents, copyrights, trademarks and other areas of law central to innovation. It’s a position that, historically, few women have held. IP chiefs typically have both a technical degree, such as engineering or computer science, coupled with a law degree. Given the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields, this area of the law has persistently suffered from a wide gender gap.

While our community is much broader than the IP specialists who formed it, we are still ChIPsters — and we think of everyone in our ever-growing network as our ChIPster sisters.