While there may be plenty for women in tech to gripe about, the Professional BusinessWomen of California Conference 2017 in San Francisco was no pity party. Organizers and speakers encouraged attendees to roll up their sleeves and be the change they wished to see in the industry.

“We need to have the rubber hit the road; we have to get together; we have to have actionable plans,” said Deepti Srivastava, product manager of data and analytics for Google Cloud at ‎Google and PBWC board member.

PBWC wants to give women usable tools, not just a soapbox, Srivastava told Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live streaming studio, during the PBWC event. (*Disclosure below.) 

To deliver on this, the organization has brought together leaders from across industries to share their advice on making equal pay and inclusive workplaces a reality. Both the Senior Leadership Summit and the VIP Reception at the event featured these pros talking about the nuts and bolts that create real change, Srivastava explained.

These gatherings were “all about getting those thought leaders together and getting them to share their best practices and ideas so that, again, they can take it back to their companies,” she said.

In addition to business leaders, the conference also featured talks from famous speakers actresses Taraji P. Henson and Rosario Dawson and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Millennials hammer away

Of utmost importance is for attendees to apply what they learn from these leaders in the real word, Srivastava said. “We want them to sort of take charge and move forward by themselves,” she said.

The younger generation of women in tech and other industries are not afraid to get their hands dirty. “They’re asking for equal pay; they’re really engaged and aware,” she added.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the PBWC Conference. (*Disclosure: Some segments on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE are sponsored. Sponsors have no editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE