Grace Hopper Celebration canceled two weeks out as AnitaB.org runs short of funds

This year’s Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) in Anaheim, a conference for women in computing, has been canceled just two weeks before its start. Brenda Darden Wilkerson, president and CEO of AnitaB.org, the nonprofit that manages the convention, said in a press release that “both individual registrations and sponsorship commitments came in significantly below our expectations,” leaving GHC short of the money needed to cover its operating costs. The circumstances behind the cancellation have also hurt AnitaB.org’s finances, and it is now considering strategic alternatives and looking at what programming it can offer in the future.

With the event called off, attendees were told to cancel their own travel and lodging arrangements (which are on the attendee). Fees already paid have not been addressed, and depend on the nonprofit getting a clearer picture of its finances. Sponsors and exhibitors are being handled directly through contacts, but no information on refunds was available at the time of posting. Meanwhile, AnitaB.org is asking employers with scheduled career-fair interviews to keep those conversations going directly “where possible” — but without any guarantees.

The event, set for Oct. 27 – 30 at the Anaheim Convention Center, had announced speakers — including journalist Kara Swisher, Cloudflare co-founder Michelle Zatlyn, and futurist Sinead Bovell — with Cathy Hackl hosting, and GHC co-founder Telle Whitney expected to give a talk.

“I’m in shock. The notice just came in,” Hackl told Forbes. Writer and TheLi.st co-founder Rachel Sklar called the conference “a mainstay” on X.

The conference carries the name of Grace Hopper, the Navy rear admiral the service calls a pioneer in computer science. AnitaB.org says 700+ organizations take part each year. The event intended to cover AI fluency with a career fair for hiring — just as tech firms are cutting jobs and ascribing many of the cuts to AI. Its sponsors reportedly include Capital One, CVS Health, Disney, Goldman Sachs, Google, Intuit, and Morgan Stanley.

Looking at its financial history, AnitaB.org lost $14.6 million in 2024 on revenue of $27.5 million and expenses of $42.1 million, according to its annual IRS filings. Its net assets roughly halved while liabilities nearly doubled. “Contributions and grants” fell from $11.2 million in 2023 to just $724,350 in 2024. Attendance also was in decline — from 29,000 in 2023 to 17,000 in 2024 — counting in-person and virtual attendees. The 2024 filing put GHC’s own expenses at $26.9 million against $22.4 million in revenue. The conference’s 2024 gap suggests a pattern that may have worsened.

It’s unclear what this means for GHC moving forward — 32 years after Anita Borg and Whitney founded it in 1994. AnitaB.org says it will contact registrants about their fees by Oct. 26, and further announcements are expected in the coming weeks.

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