Girl and Not Girl was a voluntary organisation based in Manchester, UK that ran semi-regular events for people who want to meet others who work or have an interest in tech, science, maths and general geekery.
As of June 2024, we are no longer running events in Manchester, but will hold occasional craft sessions, and if you wish to join them, we will continue running a WhatsApp group to update people about the sessions.
GirlandnotGirl (formerly Manchester Girl Geeks) was a group of people based in Manchester who worked or were interested in science and tech, and who organised events to meet up, participate in workshops and watch talks, enjoy science and technology and network. We had a focus on empowering women and non-binary people in tech, and while our events were open to everyone, they were organised by a group of non-binary and female volunteers.
Originally, Manchester Girl Geeks was under the umbrella of Girl Geek Dinners, organising networking events for women in tech and creating a space to meet others and share ideas. Our chapter specifically started a tradition of running other kinds of events - hands-on workshops, events for families, and our famous 'Girl Geek Tea Party' events, including everything from building PCs to making QR codes and pixel art from beads, as well as our 'Show & Tell' and 'Crafternoon' staples.
In 2023 we rebranded to 'Girl and Not Girl', a name chosen to be inclusive of everyone who wanted to join in - whether you're a girl or not a girl (whatever that might mean to you), you should feel welcome at our events. The feeling of needing to somehow simultaneously be a girl and not a girl might be familiar to female and female-presenting participants in the tech sector, and we hoped to provide a space where people can navigate this and other aspects of identity, tech, science and belonging. In 2024 the decision was made to stop running formal events, but we hope the tech sector can continue to find ways to make everyone feel welcome and valued.
