Top 10 Women in Tech Groups and Resources in Albuquerque, NM in 2026
By Irene Holden
Last Updated: February 19th 2026
Too Long; Didn't Read
The top resources for women in tech in Albuquerque are anchored by the New Mexico Technology Council Women in Tech Peer Group, which serves as the essential local networking hub after national closures, and the NM Women in Tech Awards that boost visibility with a $2,500 scholarship. These groups leverage Albuquerque's supportive ecosystem, including proximity to Sandia Labs and a lower cost of living, to foster career growth in the city's tech scene in 2026.
The most important part of any audition isn't the sheet of music on the stand. It's the notes left on the floor - the handwritten tips and numbers from those who came before. Albuquerque's women-in-tech ecosystem operates on the same principle of shared, informal wisdom. Following the 2024 closure of some national chapter networks, the local scene transformed into a tight-knit, collaborative ensemble powered by a distinctly New Mexican spirit.
This list isn't a competitive ranking but a map to the different sections of Albuquerque's tech orchestra. Your path is about finding where you resonate within a community uniquely shaped by national labs, a lower cost of living, and a collective drive to lift each other up. The ecosystem is anchored by the New Mexico Technology Council (NMTC), which became the essential hub for connection and practical support.
"Innovation must be accessible, relevant, and rooted in community priorities." - Heather Ingram, Client Account Leader at Accenture and 2026 NM Women in Tech Award Honoree
With Sandia National Laboratories, Kirtland Air Force Base, and Intel's Rio Rancho campus as major employers, the local tech landscape is specialized in defense, cybersecurity, and microelectronics. This creates a unique environment where senior leaders are accessible, and mentorship is part of the culture. The goal here isn't to become a soloist but to add your voice to a uniquely supportive ensemble.
Table of Contents
- Albuquerque's Tech Orchestra: An Introduction
- NMTC Women in Tech Peer Group
- NM Women in Tech Awards & Scholarship
- Cultivating Coders
- Women Who Mean Business Awards
- Mentoring Monday
- WIT, Wine, & Wisdom
- WomenTech Network
- AnitaB.org Community
- Exponential Impact Women in Tech
- Albuquerque Women Leaders Network
- Finding Your Place in the Ensemble
- Frequently Asked Questions
For a detailed complete guide to starting an AI career in Albuquerque, NM in 2026, check out this resource.
NMTC Women in Tech Peer Group
As the central hub of Albuquerque's tech community, the NMTC Women in Tech Peer Group provides the most vital and active local network for women. It hosts regular, member-driven meetups focused on practical discussions about navigating gender bias, accelerating career growth, and achieving work-life balance within New Mexico's specialized sectors like defense and microelectronics.
Membership in the NMTC is required, with events listed on the council's main event calendar. The direct access to peers across Sandia Labs, Intel, UNM, and local startups is its core strength. Participants consistently describe the community as "refreshing" and "inspiring," filled with talented women from all corners of the industry.
The group's value lies in its hyper-local focus and the quality of its connections. In Albuquerque's integrated ecosystem, where a defense researcher might collaborate with a startup founder, this peer group facilitates the cross-pollination of ideas and support that drives regional innovation and personal career advancement.
NM Women in Tech Awards & Scholarship
The premier event of the year, the NM Women in Tech Awards, is far more than a ceremony; it's a powerful engine for visibility and opportunity. The 18th annual awards in March 2026 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center honored ten trailblazers, with leaders from Sandia National Laboratories and local startups consistently featured, solidifying role models statewide.
"I'm even more excited to be standing alongside so many female extraordinary leaders here in the state." - 2026 NM Women in Tech Award Honoree
Beyond recognition, the program awards an annual $2,500 scholarship to a woman pursuing tech or STEM education in New Mexico, directly investing in the next generation. The 2026 honorees included leaders like Casey Anglada DeRaad, Jennifer Gaudioso, and Misti Willock, creating a palpable network of recognized talent.
Nominations and applications are managed through the dedicated awards application portal. The celebration fosters a profound sense of solidarity, transforming individual achievement into collective inspiration for the entire community.
Cultivating Coders
For women seeking to pivot into tech, Albuquerque-based Cultivating Coders is a life-changing, accessible entry point. This intensive bootcamp serves as a critical pipeline into the local job market, especially for those without a traditional computer science degree, rapidly equipping students with in-demand skills through hands-on, portfolio-building projects.
Application information and cohort schedules are available on their website, with prospective students advised to prepare for the program's renowned intensity. The model is brutally effective: graduates consistently report being able to build functional web pages after just 8 weeks of training.
The transformative impact is clear in alumni testimonials. One graduate shared, "This program changed my life... it opens the door to understanding more complex systems and coding languages." As noted in Course Report reviews, the key is readiness for the 10-12 hour daily commitment, but the career launchpad it provides is unmatched in the region for creating tangible, employable outcomes.
Women Who Mean Business Awards
While not exclusively tech-focused, the prestigious Women Who Mean Business Awards by Albuquerque Business First are crucial for women in tech leadership, especially those founding companies or leading tech divisions. The 2026 honorees included leaders from across the economy, with the tech sector well-represented, providing significant business community visibility and credibility.
"Leadership is about collaboration, community, and lifting others as we grow." - Nicole Abreu, VP of Sales at Ardham Technologies and 2026 Honoree
The annual call for nominations typically opens in the fall. Insight into the caliber of leaders recognized can be found in the 2026 honoree announcement. The judging panel itself included respected experts like Angela Serrano de Rivera of NM Gas Company.
The primary value lies in fostering cross-industry connections vital for tech entrepreneurs seeking customers or partners beyond the tech bubble. This award integrates tech leadership into the broader fabric of Albuquerque's business community, expanding networks and creating unexpected opportunities for growth and collaboration.
Mentoring Monday
Organized by Albuquerque Business First, the annual Mentoring Monday event uses a highly effective "speed mentoring" format to connect hundreds of local women with established leaders across all sectors in a single morning. This structure allows mentees to gain condensed, actionable insights from multiple executives, investors, and technical leaders, efficiently breaking down the intimidation factor of seeking a mentor.
Both mentors and mentees can register for the event, which is typically held in the first quarter, through the Albuquerque Business First website. The format is designed for maximum exposure and diverse perspective-gathering, creating a dynamic environment of shared professional wisdom.
"Show up, listen closely, ask questions and figure out how you can add value when you get a seat at the table." - Shared in a Mentoring Monday recap of the best advice given
The value lies in the direct access and the variety of concise, practical guidance. For women in Albuquerque's tech scene, this is a prime opportunity to build relationships with leaders outside their immediate company or field, gaining strategic career advice that is both broad in scope and immediately applicable.
WIT, Wine, & Wisdom
This follow-up event to the NM Women in Tech Awards is where the formal ceremony transitions into intimate, shared learning. Held as a relaxed fireside chat, it allows award honorees to share unfiltered career insights, personal stories of failure and resilience, and practical wisdom in a conversational setting that encourages honest questions.
"Inspired by the stories of these extraordinary women and the incredible community that supports them." - From the 2026 New Mexico Women in Tech Awards recap
Attendance details are typically posted on the NMTC event calendar, with access often bundled with awards ceremony tickets. The atmosphere specifically encourages discussions about salary negotiation, managing teams, and overcoming imposter syndrome - topics sometimes glossed over in larger, more formal forums.
This is where the metaphorical "handwritten notes" of real experience are passed down. By design, WIT, Wine, & Wisdom transforms honorees from distant role models on a stage into accessible peers and potential mentors, creating the genuine connections that form the bedrock of Albuquerque's supportive tech ecosystem.
WomenTech Network
While not Albuquerque-specific, the global WomenTech Network is an indispensable digital resource for local women aiming to connect with international trends, remote job opportunities, and a worldwide community. For professionals in Albuquerque's specialized defense and research sectors, it provides a crucial window into the broader commercial tech landscape.
Professionals can join for free on the platform, accessing virtual conferences, a global job board, and networking events. This global perspective is vital for staying competitive, offering certification guides and trend reports that complement region-specific knowledge.
"Success isn't just about achieving your goals, it's also about having the courage to pursue them in the first place." - Anna Radulovski, CEO of WomenTech Network
The network helps Albuquerque technologists contextualize their work within global tech trends for 2026, such as AI and cloud computing. It bolsters local expertise with the courage and context needed to innovate and pursue ambitious career paths on an international scale.
AnitaB.org Community
Although without a dedicated physical chapter, AnitaB.org - the organization behind the Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) - maintains an active virtual community for professionals and students in the North America West region, which includes New Mexico. This connection is vital for accessing scholarships and information for GHC, the world's largest gathering of women in tech.
New Mexico residents can join the virtual AnitaB.org community to network and stay informed about critical deadlines for sponsored attendance. For students at UNM or CNM, securing a department-sponsored seat is a significant career milestone, similar to programs at other institutions.
The primary value is creating a clear pathway to the Grace Hopper Celebration. Attending GHC can be career-defining, offering unparalleled recruitment opportunities, technical workshops, and global networking. This access ensures Albuquerque's women in tech are not isolated but connected to a massive, inspiring international movement.
Exponential Impact Women in Tech
This local nonprofit, focused on supporting startups and entrepreneurs, hosts targeted Women in Tech events designed for raw, honest conversations about the unique challenges of building a tech company in New Mexico. Discussions tackle securing funding, navigating growth, and leveraging strategic partnerships with entities like national labs.
Participants can follow Exponential Impact on social media or their website for announcements on their event schedule. The gatherings are intentionally intimate, fostering a founder-centric support system distinct from broader professional networks.
Participants of the first 2026 event described the atmosphere as having "real" energy with "momentum building" through candid discussion. - From a 2026 participant testimonial
For women in Albuquerque's burgeoning AI and defense startup ecosystem, these events provide actionable advice and peer solidarity. The value is in the focused, strategic dialogue that addresses the real pressures of entrepreneurship, turning local challenges into shared opportunities for innovation and resilience.
Albuquerque Women Leaders Network
This established, chapter-based professional organization offers broad networking that importantly includes tech leaders within its membership. In a city where the tech sector is deeply intertwined with every other industry - from healthcare at Presbyterian to the film industry - building a wide professional web is a strategic advantage for career growth and business development.
Prospective members can explore the schedule and membership information to find events that align with their professional interests. The organization facilitates regular gatherings that encourage connection across traditional industry boundaries.
The core value lies in cross-pollination. A software engineer might connect with a mentor in healthcare administration, or a tech founder might meet her first major client from the manufacturing sector. In Albuquerque’s integrated business community, these lateral connections are often the key to unexpected opportunities, providing a more robust and diversified professional identity that extends beyond the tech bubble.
Finding Your Place in the Ensemble
The goal in Albuquerque's supportive tech scene is not to climb a solitary ranking but to find your section in the orchestra. The resources mapped here - from the foundational NMTC to the global reach of AnitaB.org - provide the essential sheet music for a successful career. Yet, the real harmony emanates from the notes passed between the stands: the $2,500 scholarship, the speed mentorship, the shared story of a challenge overcome at a fireside chat.
With Albuquerque's significantly lower cost of living offering sustained relief and its labs, military bases, and universities driving specialized innovation in defense and AI, there has never been a better time to add your voice. The ecosystem is electric with connection, as evidenced by the ten trailblazers honored at the 2026 Women in Tech Awards and the "real energy" of startup-focused gatherings.
Your first step is to listen, then to reach out and join the conversation. Whether you resonate with the deep technical networks around Sandia, the entrepreneurial pulse of local startups, or the cross-industry breadth of the wider business community, your place in this uniquely collaborative ensemble awaits.
Frequently Asked Questions
How were the top women in tech groups in Albuquerque selected for this list?
This list focuses on groups that foster collaboration and support in Albuquerque's unique tech scene, shaped by national labs and a lower cost of living. It highlights resources with active networks, practical events, and ties to major local employers like Sandia National Laboratories and Intel.
Are there any scholarships or awards available through these Albuquerque resources?
Yes, the NM Women in Tech Awards includes an annual $2,500 scholarship for women pursuing STEM education in New Mexico. Awards like Albuquerque Business First’s Women Who Mean Business also provide visibility and credibility for tech leaders in the local community.
How can beginners or career-changers benefit from these groups in Albuquerque?
Beginners can join intensive bootcamps like Cultivating Coders to gain in-demand skills for the local job market. Groups like the NMTC Women in Tech Peer Group offer practical discussions and networking with peers from Sandia Labs and startups to support career transitions.
What makes Albuquerque's tech community unique for women compared to larger cities?
Albuquerque's lower cost of living and proximity to major employers like Sandia Labs and the University of New Mexico foster a tight-knit, collaborative ecosystem. The growing AI/defense startup scene with national-lab partnerships provides unique opportunities for support and innovation.
Do these groups host events, and how can I find and attend them?
Yes, events like Mentoring Monday and WIT, Wine, & Wisdom are regularly held; details are on platforms like the NMTC event calendar or Albuquerque Business First's website. Many groups list schedules online, such as Exponential Impact's Women in Tech events for 2026.
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Irene Holden
Operations Manager
Former Microsoft Education and Learning Futures Group team member, Irene now oversees instructors at Nucamp while writing about everything tech - from careers to coding bootcamps.