An initiative led by Girls in Tech Indonesia, #WomenWin is an idea competition, workshop, pitch night and mentoring initiative for girls and women aged 17-45. The idea competition is intended for participants with currently offline ideas that could benefit from incorporating technology.An initiative led by Girls in Tech Indonesia, #WomenWin is an idea competition, workshop, pitch night and mentoring initiative for girls and women aged 17-45. The idea competition is intended for participants with currently offline ideas that could benefit from incorporating technology.

Program designed to engage young women interested in STEM and advance their pursuit of STEM careers through mentoring and 21st-century skills development. The program is open to girls ages 13–19 from around the world who are currently in high school. Each student is paired with a female mentor dedicated to supporting the development of young women in STEM. Throughout the year, students engage in activities designed to foster development of their Leadership, Communication, and Critical Thinking skills. In addition, the program will host a piece on College Readiness to encourage mentees to pursue higher education and provide a thorough understanding of the process of selecting and applying to a college program. All work is done through an innovative virtual platform, facilitating interaction among students and mentors across the globe.

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/

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

Asikana Network is hoping to engage with the companies in the private sector. AsikanaNetwork has partnered with organizations that offer support and mentorship to AsikanaNetwork including BongoHive, Anakazi, and Akirachix of Kenya.

Asikana aims to empower young women and equip them with ICT skills and help them in their various fields. We believe partnering with organization from the private sector will help us achieve our goals/objectives which include;

1.Provide ICT skills and training development.
2.Mentorship to the young ladies.
3.Placement for the young ladies who have qualifications in ICT.

Origins and Mission
AsikanaNetwork is the brain child of BongoHive, the first and only technology and innovation space in Zambia based in the capital city, Lusaka.
AsikanaNetwork was established in January, 2012. Our belief is that we can better the mindset of ladies/women in ICT and deal with negative stereotypes attached to ladies/women in ICT-related fields. Asikana Network has identified three groups of young women as the target group: those in high school, in University and those already in the ICT profession as the target group.
Operating methods.

Asikana Network operates through meet-ups online and physical. We also plan to have monthly trainings which will include various activities.

ACM-W's mission is to celebrate, inform and support women in computing, and work with the ACM-W community of computer scientists, educators, employers and policy makers to improve working and learning environments for women.  This includes promoting activities that result in more equal representation of women in CS such as mentoring or role modeling; monitoring the status of women in industrial and computing through the gathering of statistics; providing historical information about women's accomplishments and roles in CS; and serving as a repository of information about programs, documents and policies of concern to women in CS.

AWIS champions the interests of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics across all disciplines and employment sectors.
Working for positive system transformation, AWIS strives to ensure that all women in these fields can achieve their full potential.

the AWIS Educational and Professional Development Awards has been substantially revised recently to focus on assisting early-career women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine with professional development.  These awards are provided to women who have already received their PhDs and funds may be used to attend a conference, acquire specialized training, or pursue professional development.
 

Bangladesh Women in Technology (BWIT)

Vision:

Empower women to achieve success through technology and drive change in the Bangladesh technology industry.

Mission:

Encourage women in Bangladesh to embrace careers in technology and empower these women to grow, by providing technology awareness as well as education, leadership development, networking and mentoring.

About us:

Bangladesh Women in Technology (BWIT) is dedicated to mobilizing women involved in all levels of the technology industry and to create a wide range of professional development and networking opportunities for growth of its constituents and to make meaningful contribution in the growth of Bangladesh. Our goal is to create a Forum where women in technology can be recognized and promoted; and to encourage young women to participate in the technology industry as professionals and entrepreneurs providing leadership. Presently, women professionals and entrepreneurs do exist and are making significant contributions in their individual capacity in various institutions and fields. This Forum will be a collective expression of their talent in providing leadership in bringing larger numbers of women into this field.

Under the Government “Digital Bangladesh” policy and the thrust sector initiative an atmosphere exists for accelerated growth and meaningful engagement through active interaction. The Forum will endeavor to stretch across sectors and professions with the intention of harnessing powerful ideas, solutions and suggestions for women’s development and for national development. Gender balance finds special mention in Bangladesh constitution and is an essential part of

economic and social policy. Women must play an effective part in securing real gender equality and in anchoring the gains made so far. The Forum believes in inclusive growth and will strategize accordingly using best of breed models. It has to be realized that with increased enrollment of girls in schools and remarkable performance in higher studies, professional women will have to shoulder leadership of the nation. Therefore, the positioning of present leaders and promotion of role models has become imperative. With proliferation of the web it is possible to harness the power of the social media to access Bangladesh women professionals at home or anywhere in the world and to engage with women in technology worldwide. The largest global corporations in the field are supportive and will engage through corporate citizenship. Similarly key international institutions that engage in third world growth will be accessed.

Objectives:

• Grow: Enhance the image of the Bangladeshi women in IT.
• Develop: Offer to be a platform for skills development to create the appropriate skill sets in women and girls taking up IT as a career.

• Mentor: Actively work to establish formal and informal networks through the hosting of programs for members and young women in order to connect and access positive role models in the IT field.

The Bergeron scholarship is awarded to undergraduate female students in the CIS or Computer Science program who have expressed or demonstrated high potential for leadership careers in technology. The scholarship-mentorship program provides for a tuition award and a one-on-one mentor relationship with a leader from the technology industry. The program is funded through a $1 million endowment made by Sandra and Doug Bergeron to the university’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business. Sandra Bergeron is a graduate of Georgia State University.

BigAmbition, is a revolutionary programme whose primary strategy is to attract teenagers towards education and careers within the IT sector.

The initiative focuses on helping 14-19 year olds make informed choices in an inspiring and accessible way – stimulating demand among young people for technology-related degrees and careers plus improving the gender imbalance in IT.

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.   

National professional organization (open to students, professionals, and small business owners) for black women in IT in South Africa.  Holds workshops and skills training programmes, networking events, conferences, incubation activities, mentoring, and awards for women in IT.

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

It offers projects aimed at teaching children to program by showing them how to make computer games, animations, and websites. Their volunteers go to the local club for an hour per week and teach one project per week. Each term the students will progress and learn more whilst at the same time using their imagination to make creative projects. Terms 1 & 2 use Scratch to teach the basics of programming. Term 3 teaches the basics of web development using HTML and CSS. Term 4 teaches Python.

The an industry led coalition of organizations and businesses led by Bell Canada, CCICT seeks to achieve practical solutions to an alarming decline in ICT-related post-secondary enrolments (30-40%), historically low female participation (25%), and significant shifts in demand – against the backdrop of a growing need for every industry to embrace the tools and methods of the knowledge economy. Career choosers and their advisors (parents, teachers, the media) often don’t know about the exciting ways that ICT-related careers are changing.