Pride Tech Night with BetaNYC + BetaBuilders Launch

BetaNYC presents Pride Tech Night!

On Tuesday, June 23 from 6 pm - 8 pm, we're gathering at Wilka's, a queer-owned sports bar, to celebrate Pride Month and the queer tech and data community.

Join us for Pride-focused lightning talks and a special announcement. We've been cooking up something new: a community built for people at the forefront of public interest tech in NYC. The idea behind this community is to create a space where we can all come together, riff, iterate, build community, and rally around the city we love and the tech that makes it better.

📍 Wilka's, 241 Bowery
📅 Tuesday, June 23, 2026
⏰ 6:00–8:00 PM
🎟️ $30, includes entry, = two drink tickets, and lightning talks + networking

• Charlie Sprinkman is the founder of Everywhere is Queer, a public data resource and map for anyone to find welcoming, queer-owned spaces to shop, connect, eat, learn, and grow. 
• Maria Baker Digital Humanities researcher and writer will be sharing how they built a research study that examines how generative AI systems represent lesbians in film. Their work unpacks what these models amplify, suppress, and quietly change, and what that reveals about how AI handles queer identity in cultural data.
• Raitah Jinnat is a Computer Scientist and Public Health specialist who builds inclusive technologies. Raita will be speaking on how queer robot companions, or identity-aware robots, can better support the diverse human lived experience and thus how this project improves digital literacy for all.