Women of Search
Women of Search (WoS) is an international community dedicated to empowering and celebrating women working in the search field. Its mission is to provide “a network and platform for technical growth, mentorship, and knowledge sharing” for women in search, information retrieval, and adjacent disciplines.
🔗 https://www.women-of-search.org/
History
Women of Search was founded in May 2021 by Audrey Lorberfeld, a librarian-turned-software engineer, out of a desire to form meaningful connections with women in the search and information retrieval field. It has since grown into an international community with a core leadership team and a roster of speakers and mentors.
Focus Areas
The community spans the breadth of modern search practice:
- Search technology and Information Retrieval
- Vector Search and semantic retrieval
- Recommendation systems
- Search product management
- Career growth, mentorship, and knowledge sharing
Core Leadership
| Person | Role / Expertise |
|---|---|
| Audrey Lorberfeld | Founder; librarian-turned-software engineer; AI-driven IR |
| Erika Cardenas | Technology Partner Manager at Weaviate; vector search & generative AI |
| Atita Arora | Independent AI Solution Architect; 17+ years in IR; conference speaker |
| Elzbieta Jakubowska | Software developer, 9+ years of search expertise (Kraków) |
| Meghan Boyd | Technical project manager; intuitive search & AI solutions |
| Olena Gorbatiuk | Senior Product Manager; 10+ years of product innovation (B2B/B2C) |
| Samdisha Kapoor | Product management (Loblaw Digital); search relevance at Wayfair |
Activities
- Talks at industry conferences — most notably the Haystack Conference (US and EU editions), where WoS members present technical sessions.
- Maven workshops on specialized topics such as AI-powered code search.
- Mentorship program — pairing women in the field with experienced practitioners for career and technical growth.
- Blog and resources — written knowledge sharing and a curated resource list.
- YouTube talks — recorded conference and community sessions spanning 2022–2025.
Notable Talks
- Audrey Lorberfeld — AI-Driven Information Retrieval
- Elzbieta Jakubowska — the lifecycle of search systems
- Erika Cardenas — vector search and recommendation systems
Why It Matters for the Vault
Women of Search is a key community / careers node in the search ecosystem — a counterpart to the conference-centric Events and Conferences and consultancy-centric Search Consultancy networks. It is a practical on-ramp for How to Start a Career in Search and a mentorship resource relevant to Hiring for Search and building search teams.
Related Topics
- Events and Conferences — where WoS members present (Haystack US/Haystack EU)
- How to Start a Career in Search — mentorship and community as an entry path
- Hiring for Search — talent pipeline and community
- Search Consultancy — adjacent practitioner network
- Conversational and Agentic Search — a current focus area for WoS speakers
People
- Audrey Lorberfeld — founder
- Erika Cardenas · Atita Arora · Elzbieta Jakubowska · Meghan Boyd · Olena Gorbatiuk · Samdisha Kapoor
Companies
- Weaviate — employer of core member Erika Cardenas