[benologist]

A female CEO can hire as many women as she wants? A female founder in any role probably influences hiring tremendously.

[rjanoch]

Very true. However, having a woman in a lead technical role to provide mentorship and inspiration to female developers is very important for encouraging more women to become developers and stay in the industry.

[e1ven]

For what it's worth, I'm fairly confident that it's illegal to discriminate on sex when making hiring decisions.

[prawn]

A female involved in hiring might mean the process is less discriminatory. Thus a female influencing hirings wouldn't necessarily be illegal, but potentially more legal.