Shutting Down the Pasifika Tech Network

Port-Mortem of a Failed Project

Talofa reader,

A few weeks ago, I made the relatively easy decision to wind down The Pasifika Tech Network.

"Failed project" may be a harsh way to put it, but I think there's value in calling something what it is, so you can better understand how _not_ to do it again in future.

This is a project that failed.

Ok, but what did it fail to do? And why?

To understand that, we have to go back to the beginning and look at why it was created in the first place; what its intended goal was; and the reasons it wasn't able to live up to this.

Genesis of the Network

When I started on the "how do I get more Pasifika into tech?" journey back in 2016, my first stop was trying to identify Pasifika already in tech and creating a network so we could help each other into various roles in the industry.

I started the LinkedIn group known today as "Pasifika in IT" (originally called the "Polynesian Tech Professionals"), to gather said professionals, and was dismayed that of the 300+ people who joined the group, only a handful were technical, and only 2 showed up to a meetup.

Digging into the root of the problem, I discovered a "pipeline issue".