Ellas 2.0 es una comunidad que nace con el objetivo de impulsar a las mujeres en la creación de negocios de base tecnológica. Nuestra misión es ser catalizadoras del cambio social, movilizando, dotando de visibilidad, inspirando y conectando a una nueva generación de emprendedoras que lideren proyectos innovadores, globales, escalables y con alto potencial de crecimiento.

AfChix - Women in Technology Group

Background

The AfChix Mailing list is composed of a group of African Chix (Women) in Computer Science / Information Technology that was previously called Linux Chix Africa (since 2004) and participants of the AfNOGChix series of workshops (since 2007). Linux Chix Africa was the brainchild of Dorcas Muthoni and Anna Badimo - two great African women in Computer Science / Information Technology that had a dream of how to support women in Computer Science / Information Technology to prosper. This group has since evolved to what is now called AfChix and its activities have been championed by Dorcas Muthoni with a focus on the following:

1. Career Fairs in Kenya targeting high school girls with the objective of enticing them to take up careers in Computer Science and related areas
2. Support for women to attend global and regional Computer Science / Information Technology related conferences for exposure
3. Targeted partnerships for training women in technical fields such as Linux Systems Administration, Network Infrastructure & Services, Internet Education among others
4. Management of the Afchix mailing list to share information and opportunities with women in Computer Science / Information Technology.

Purpose of the AfChix Group

The goal of AfChix is to create a vibrant network of African Women in Computer Science and related areas for the purpose of supporting each other. Specific objectives include the following:

1. Facilitate networking and sharing of opportunities with women in Computer Science / Information Technology - recognizing that there is power in purposeful collaboration and networking.
2. Establish a platform for mentorship targeting upcoming young women in Computer Science / Information Technology.
3. Identify opportunities and broker partnerships for professional training / development and exposure of women in Computer Science / Information Technology

Our website is: http://www.afchix.org/ and our blog is: http://afchix.blogspot.com/

The African Centre for Women, Information and Communications Technology is a pioneer Kenyan based Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) Organization with a regional reach whose mission is to promote women’s access to and use of ICTs as tools for social, economic and political advancement.

ACWICT’s programs are designed to be highly flexible and scalable. The programs can support scaling-up by supporting creation of additional community technology learning centres, identifying additional thematic areas, specifying age groups, and entrepreneurial activities, technologies [ICTs] adopted, training modules, numbers of people, income levels and geographical coverage amongst others.

Into their educational programs are:
The Women innovative Teachers Program (IWT): The program aims to build the capacity of women teachers in ICT while at the same time addressing the issues affecting Girl Child education in Kenya. The Innovative Women Teachers Program is expected to reach 150,000 women primary and secondary school teachers in Kenya by a phased implementation strategy. The Program is based on a Trainer of trainees (ToT) approach in which Bachelor of Education alumna from various Kenyan universities are trained at the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) and deployed to train female teachers in the countryside.

All Girls ICT Training: The camps are a capacity building / mentoring initiative by ACWICT which are run during every school holiday are aimed at promoting science and technology as a career path for young women in high school. The camps help the participants improve their performance in mathematics and science subjects and acquire Information and Communication Technology skills. They also learn how the internet works and how they can deploy it as a tool for learning.

Techno Serves Young Women in Enterprise (YWE) Program seeks to raise the level of entrepreneurial activity among Kenya’s young women–particularly the most disadvantaged, to catalyze the start up of employment-generating, women-owned small enterprises. YWE is designed to provide young women ages 15 to 22 years with support, skills, and experience needed to transform ideas into successful enterprises. 

Tech camp for middle school girls that also provides mentoring and networking opportunities for women of all ages

Aspirations in Computing is a talent development pipeline initiative of the National Center for Women & IT. It is designed to increase women’s participation in technology careers by providing encouragement, visibility, community, enrichment opportunities, scholarships, and internships to aspiring technically inclined young women. Over 90 percent of participants now in college report majoring in traditionally male-dominated STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields of computer science & engineering.  Details: www.aspirationsaward.org

Since its inception five years ago, the program has mentored 1319 young women throughout the U.S. and built a database of more than 10,000 young women that self-identify as interested in technology fields.  The program is scaling up significantly and is expected to serve 1000 girls in 2012-13 through 54 local Affiliate programs. Aspirations in Computing participants are reflective of our diverse populations with 59% describing themselves as non-white or of mixed race, and 10% coming from schools with 40% or more students on free and reduced lunch.

Aspirations in Computing provides a 360°-mentoring environment, in which girls receive support, encouragement and opportunities from NCWIT, peers, K-12 educators, academic institutions and industry partners. Eighty-eight (88%) percent of participants now in college report a major or minor in traditionally male-dominated fields of engineering and computer science and participants report;
» increased interest in technology fields,
» increased confidence in their technical potential,
» increased awareness of opportunities for women in technology,
» and decreased apprehension about entering a male-dominated field.

Aspirations in Computing is currently open to high school level young women who are US residents, including US territories and girl residing at US military installations overseas. We hope to expand internationally in the future and if you are interested in partnering, please email .

Atlanta’s all girls coding program. The girls go through an experience of solving community-based issues in a collaborative environment. The programs are project-based with an emphasis on empowering girls and their communities. Their mission is threefold: to decrease the gender gap in technology; introduce girls to a collaborative environment; and identify skill-set for girls to change their community. You can register online through their website.

BlackGirlsCode is devoted to showing the world that black girls can code, and do so much more. By reaching out to the community through workshops and after school programs, BlackGirlsCode introduces computer coding lessons to young girls from underrepresented communities in programming languages such as Scratch or Ruby on Rails. BlackGirlsCode has set out to prove to the world that girls of every color have the skills to become the programmers of tomorrow. By promoting classes and programs we hope to grow the number of women of color working in technology and give underprivileged girls a chance to become the masters of their technological worlds.

BlackGirlsCode is proud to say we’ve completed our first year as an organization, during which time we had the honor of bringing technology and entertainment to many wonderful young girls of color. By teaching the girls programming and game design, we hope to have started the lifelong process of developing in them a true love for technology and the self-confidence that comes from understanding the greatest tools of the 21st century.

And though we at BlackGirlsCode cannot overstate our happiness with the results of our classes, this is just the first step in seeking to bridge the digital divide. The digital divide, or the gap between those with regular, effective access to digital technology and those without, is becoming an increasingly critical problem in society. As more and more information becomes electronic, the inability to get online can leave entire communities at an extremely dangerous disadvantage.

Sadly, San Francisco’s digital divide falls along the same racial and social fault lines that characterize so many of society’s issues. White households are twice as likely to have home Internet access as African American houses. Bayview Hunters Point, Crocker Amazon, Chinatown, Visitacion Valley, and the Tenderloin have significantly lower rates of home technology use than the rest of the city. Sixty-six percent of Latinos report having a home computer, as opposed to 88 percent of Caucasians.            

Through community outreach programs such as workshops and after school programs, we introduce underprivileged girls to basic programming skills in languages like Scratch and Ruby on Rails. Introducing young black girls to these skills gives them an introduction to today’s computer technology, an essential tool for surviving in the 21st century. The skills they acquire through the programs give these young women a chance at well-paying professions with prestigious companies, as well as the ability to enter into the field as an entrepreneurs and leaders of technology.

“Imagine. Build. Create.” has always been our motto at BlackGirlsCode. The digital divide is steadily eroding, but if we want to create truly universal access to technology, San Francisco needs to come together as a community.  Imagine a world where everyone is given the tools to succeed, and then help us build ways for everyone to access information and create a new age of women of color in technology.   

The essence of this new lab can be described by three keywords:

Innovation: Innovation generally refers to the creation or improvement of products, technologies, or ideas that signifies a substantial change or difference. The pioneers working in BongoHive want to bring innovation to the world of economics, business, entrepreneurship, health, education etc.

Creativity: We are out-of-the box thinkers that know new ideas need nurturing and support. We also know that having an idea is good but acting on it is more important. In our thinking, results are what count.

Sustainability: We believe some applications and services can leapfrog development in Zambia. To us successful applications and services need to have the capacity to endure. With a connected and conducive place for techies to work on technologies that can leapfrog development in Zambia we hope to produce sustainable outcomes.

Membership of BongoHive is free. Members must agree to specific agile development methods used at Lusaka’s Innovation Hub. We promote development, teamwork, collaboration, and process adaptability throughout the life-cycle of a project.

Team composition in an agile project is usually cross-functional and self-organizing, without consideration for any existing corporate hierarchy or the corporate roles of team members. Members of BongoHive must take responsibility for tasks that deliver the functionality a project requires.

That’s the secret to BongoHive’s success: geeks or nerds, are self-organising to equip themselves with the expertise and experience needed to solve social problems and enhance their personal development.

Contact:
Email: http://bongohive.co.zm/contactus/

Physical address:
25 Mpulungu Rd,
Olympia Park,
Lusaka,
Zambia
Tel: +260955769936

The purpose of Camp TechKobwa is to provide young women with unhindered access to computers in order to develop skills and creativity in using technology as well as to inspire them as the next generation of Rwandan technology entrepreneurs. The camp encourages young women to become active citizens by building their self-esteem, confidence, and skills; and empowers them and their ICT teachers to start computer and media clubs upon return to their schools.

The CEMC Workshop in Computer Science for Young Women is a unique opportunity designed to ignite enthusiasm for computer science in interested female students from across Canada. The young women invited learn that computer science is about much more than using and programming computers. Through lectures, labs and hands-on activities, the workshop explores the foundations and applications of computer science that have a profound effect on the world today.

Summer camp hosted by the University of Waterloo for girls in grades 9 and 10 that aims to spark interest in computer science and challenge stereotypes and barriers to women‘s participation in computer science.

Children’s Technology Workshop (CTWorkshop) teaches children to design and use software and applications and trains children in computer use and programming.

Code4CT is a holiday program for high school girls in Capte Town. The participants will learn how to build websites and solve challenges. At the end of the program, theywill pitch the website theybuilt to clients.

Computer Clubs for Girls (CC4G) – a fun way to inspire and motivate 9 to 14 year old girls with, and through, ICT. Featuring girl-centric topics like music, fashion and celebrity, CC4G develops skills through games and challenges.

Students gain an insight into the relevance of IT and a better understanding of career options from real-world examples and interaction with employers. e-skills UK has worked with employers, as well as educational professionals, to ensure CC4G supports girls in developing the IT skills that will equip them for working life.