March Recap

Women make strides, create change, empower, and inspire every month worldwide. But March is the month we shine a spotlight on them and take time to acknowledge their impact. For us, that looks like partnering with different institutions and women in STEM to expose our students to the needs and opportunities that exist in the field. Continue reading to learn more.

International Women's Day with the United Nations

On March 8th, the United Nations celebrated International Women's Day by highlighting the need for inclusive and transformative technology and digital education. Our Programs Director, Jen, and STEM From Dance participant, Jazmine, represented our work and advocacy at this event.

"...37% of women do not use the internet. 259 million fewer women have access to the internet than men, even though they account for nearly half the world's population." - DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality

We've been advocating for equity in STEM for over a decade, and data like this encourages us now, more than ever, to continue to amplify this work.

Watch the video below to hear what Jazmine has to say about STEM.

We're Hiring

Do you want to build confidence and thinking skills in the next generation of scientists? If you have leadership experience, a background in fundraising or communications, and are passionate about empowering girls to reach their potential, see our current job openings below.

Pulling Back the Curtains - Guest Speaker Series

Did you know that we host a Guest Speaker series for each program in addition to our regular programming? We bring women in STEM into the classroom to discuss their careers, what their day-to-day looks like, and the path they took to get there.

We believe that when girls see people who look like them working in STEM, a light bulb goes off, and they realize they, too, can do this work. It also exposes them to careers they weren’t even aware of, expanding their possibilities.

One of our recent Guest Speaker partners was Elastic, the leading platform for search-powered solutions, helping clients find what they need faster, keeping applications running smoothly, and protecting against cyber threats. Four of their employees spoke to our students at Pathways to Graduation about their careers.

We look forward to exposing more girls to the various STEM careers available.

Meet the Site - Transit Tech Career and Technical Education High School

During the school year, we partner with multiple schools across the tri-state area and beyond. Each school has its own personality and mission. This month we’d like to highlight one of our school partners, Transit Tech Career and Technical Education High School. Transit Tech is a vocational high school in East New York, Brooklyn. Their vision is to create, promote and foster a learning environment that enables every student the opportunity to reach his/her full potential academically, socially, emotionally, and physically in an ever-changing global society.

Transit Tech, uses a “problem-based approach with serious application of learned concepts…The students immediately understand that a significant part of learning is actually doing.” We’re proud to serve the young women of Transit Tech High School and offer them opportunities like last week’s field trip to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where they learned about Maritime careers for the NYC Ferry staff.

If you’re interested in joining Transit Tech as one of our school partners, use the button below to complete our contact form and reach out.

The How - Shine Bright

Are you wondering how we get it done? We have developed six modules that integrate dance into STEM concepts. Each module caters to a particular age group, and offers girls unique insight into a STEM concept. One of our first modules developed was Shine Bright.

Through Shine Bright, students learn to learn how to use the circuit playground express, a microcontroller, and MakeCode, a block and Javascript coding editor to construct connections to external neopixel strips. The combination of the microcontroller, code, and neopixel strips create interactive wearables that accompany their choreography.

What does this actually look like in practice? Take a look below.