On Monday, July 8 we are welcoming the State Department’s TechGirls program to New York City. Women Innovate Mobile has brought together over fifty women in technology to personally meet the girls at a luncheon hosted by Bank of America. TechGirls offers 27 secondary school girls (ages 15-17) from the Middle East and North Africa the opportunity to engage in a three-week exchange program in the United States. Just two years old, the program focuses on encouraging innovation and providing the knowledge and access to pursue higher education and careers in technology. The girls will then use the skills they develop for community projects to implement back at home.
The nominated participants are chosen by U.S. Embassies in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestinian Territories, Tunisia, and Yemen. The three-week program includes a seven-day technology camp led by iD Tech Camps at Towson University, site visits to technology companies in Washington D.C. and New York, job shadowing, and community service opportunities. While at technology camp, the girls will learn coding, web development, and game design and some of the companies they will visit include Girls Who Code, Google, Yahoo!, DoSomething, Code4Charity, Verizon, and AT&T.
There’s more than just one reason why WIM wanted to welcome the TechGirls to New York City. Demonstrating to these girls how they can launch their own mobile tech companies and providing them with a network to do so. During the luncheon, Suzanne Xie will discuss Hullabalu, a family media startup based in New York creating storytelling for a new generation through adventures with a female lead heroine. Amy Marie Pinto, a 15 year old from the South Bronx will explain the app she created called KnO My BOrO, through the after-school program at the nonprofit Startup Box: South Bronx. Some of the women in tech attending who include NY Tech Women founder Jenn Shaw, MentorNet.net’s Mary Fernandez and co-founder of Loudly.com, Sophia Chou.
Our luncheon is being hosted by Bank of America, which has undertaken a number of initiatives to empower women in science and technology including sponsorship of the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) program. The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing recognizes high school girls for their aspirations and achievements in computing and technology. The thirty five winners, who competed with 1,800 applicants across the United States were awarded with $500 dollars, a laptop computer, an engraved award, and mentoring opportunities with Bank of America employees. Some of the girls will attend the luncheon, where they will have the opportunity to further expand their network of mentors in a STEM field.
Stay tuned for more details about the speakers and attendees and if you’re on Twitter, tweet @WIMAccelerator and use hashtags #WIMSTEM #TG2013 #TechGirls
This post was created by Raine Dalton, WIM’s editorial and community innovation intern. Raine is passionate about finding creative ways to empower women globally through tech. In addition to WIM, Raine has written, tweeted, and posted for the Global Banking Alliance for Women, WITNESS, and 90.7 WFUV News. You can find her work at www.rainedalton.com or get in touch with her through Twitter @rainedalton, or by emailing raine@wim.co.