SheConnects

Inspiration

From college students to industry leaders, most women in tech share the isolating experience of being the first or only woman in the room. In these spaces, there's often an unspoken feeling that we have to be twice as good to be seen as half as competent. Every technical contribution feels like it's being scrutinized more carefully, and it isn't enough to just be average. That feels like failure, and unfortunately, it might confirm someone's biases.

Women leave tech at a rate 45% higher than men, with 56% exiting the industry 10-20 years into their careers. Lack of career growth, poor management, and the absence of mentorship are cited as major factors. We built SheConnects to break that cycle by creating a space where women can find mentors who've walked the path before them, connect with peers facing similar challenges, and build the support network that the tech industry has failed to provide. Because no one should have to navigate this journey alone.

What it does

Our platform connects women already in the industry who are looking to mentor other women in various stages of their career to women who want to better navigate male-dominated spaces while advancing their own career with the help of a more experienced perspective. On the platform, users have their own profile with their name, contact info, skills, external interests, and a bio; with this, they can browse through and connect with other mentors/mentees as well as make community posts that all users can see and respond publicly to. This platform facilitates the growth of women’s careers and skills in spaces where they are not always welcomed, providing invaluable opportunities and helping establish a deeper sense of unity.

How we built it

We built SheConnects as a full-stack web application using React with TypeScript for type-safe, component-based development, styled with Tailwind CSS to create a responsive, modern interface with custom dark mode support. For our backend, we chose Convex as our backend-as-a-service platform, which provided us with a real-time database, serverless functions, and automatic API generation. We designed a comprehensive database schema with indexed tables for users, profiles, posts, comments, connection requests, and connections, utilizing Convex's built-in indexing system to optimize queries for fast profile matching and data retrieval.

Authentication was implemented using Convex Auth with Google OAuth integration, providing secure sign-in while enabling role-based access control to distinguish between mentors and mentees. We leveraged Convex React hooks throughout the application to achieve real-time data synchronization and seamless state management, ensuring that updates to posts, comments, and connection requests appear instantly across all users.

Our development approach was iterative and user-focused. We started by implementing authentication and establishing our core database schema, then progressively built out the profile system with skills and interests tagging, the connection request management system with pending, accepted, and rejected states, and finally the community discussion board with nested comments. Throughout the process, we prioritized creating an intuitive user experience with real-time interactivity, ensuring the platform works seamlessly.

Challenges we ran into

None of us had prior experience with React or Convex, so we spent a good amount of time learning those. A lot of the documentation for Convex, however, was faulty and required extensive debugging. Despite the difficulty, this taught us crucial backend fundamentals at a deeper level. These languages were a learning curve for us, and it was a challenge that we worked to overcome over the course of the weekend.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud that we built a fully functional, end-to-end platform in a short amount of time, quickly learning new technologies along the way. From authentication and database design to real-time updates and a polished UI, every part of the application works together seamlessly. Implementing nested community posts and comments with live updates, a role-based mentor/mentee system, and a complete connection request flow allowed us to create a sophisticated, user-focused platform beyond a basic CRUD app.

Beyond the technical achievement, we’re especially proud of building something with a clear social purpose. This platform directly addresses a personal problem many of us have witnessed and experienced in tech spaces. Creating a product that prioritizes community, mentorship, and long-term impact made the work feel incredibly meaningful.

What we learned

We learned how to quickly pick up new technologies under pressure and adapt when documentation or tooling didn’t behave as expected. Working with React and TypeScript taught us how to structure scalable component-based applications, while Convex deepened our understanding of backend architecture, real-time data flows, and database indexing.

Equally important, we learned how to collaborate effectively as a team—breaking down features, debugging together, and making design trade-offs under time constraints. This project reinforced that building good software isn’t just about code, but about communication, resilience, and keeping users at the center of every decision.

What's next for SheConnects

Next, we want to expand this platform into a more robust mentorship ecosystem. Planned features include advanced mentor matching using skills, career goals, and availability; scheduled mentorship sessions; and more granular moderation tools to ensure the community remains safe and supportive.

We also aim to partner with universities, tech organizations, and women-in-STEM groups to grow our user base and increase real-world impact. Long term, we envision this platform as a trusted space where women at every stage of their tech journey, from students to senior engineers, can build a sense of belonging and thrive in their careers.

Built With

• claude
• convex
• react
• tailwind
• typescript