ANDREA BREANNA
Growing up in Silicon Valley in the 1980s, Andrea Breanna had access to computers and technology before home computers became mainstream. By the time she was 10, she’d learned how to code. As a trans girl with no outlet to live or speak her truth, technology allowed Breanna to express herself without fear of judgment. “In the physical world at that time, if I even stood in a feminine posture, I would become the target of finger-pointing and laughter. I grew up hoping that technology would connect people and help them understand narratives that didn’t exist then, much less in mainstream media,” she says. Breanna’s interest in technology continued, and she’s built a successful career in the tech space, a trajectory that led her to become the original chief technology owner of what was then called Huffington Post. In 2012, Breanna founded RebelMouse, a creative agency and CMS platform that helped build the Dodo and Axios, among others. RebelMouse reaches 160 million people monthly, helping independent media companies and brands tell their stories and narratives. The most rewarding aspect of her work, Breanna says, is working with RebelMouse’s clients and their teams. But beyond that, she’s proud to have built an organization that stands out from the stereotypical tech company run by cis, white men. RebelMouse’s team members—predominantly women, many of whom are part of the LGBTQ+ community—live in 28 countries around the world. She’s also the parent of four children with her wife Milena Berry (the founder and CEO of PowerToFly). Today, Breanna is a proud trans woman who continues to focus on making technology more inclusive for underrepresented groups. “The underrepresented should build the next open web,” she says.
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