The factors shaping girls’ perspectives and numbers in the fields of technology and engineering are many. ITWomen programs are designed to positively impact the decision-making of girls at critical junctures in their education and career aspirations.
EDUCATION AND INSPIRATION
Role Model Speakers Program
Our Role Model Speakers (RMS) program continues to further the ITWomen mission by recruiting IT and Engineering professionals who are passionate about sharing their career experiences and inspiring students in the South Florida Tri-County area to pursue technology careers. ITWomen has reached over 27,000 students in public schools and through non-profit partners serving at-risk youth in South Florida, including:
- Girl Scouts
- Honey Shine
- PACE Center for Girls in Broward and Miami
- Take Stock In Children
- Urgent Inc.
- Girl Power (new partnership in progress)
Some of the topics have included:
- The Future of Virtual Reality: Career Path of a Deep Space Engineer
- Dressing, Socializing, Networking for Success
- Interviewing Styles (Mock interviews)
- Careers in Electrical Utility
- Logistics/ Shipping
- Global Project Management
- Health Information Systems
- Engineering Careers
ITWomen Scholarship Program
ITWomen is focused on bridging the gap between men and women in IT and Engineering. As of July, 2020, ITWomen has awarded nearly $786,000 in scholarships to 126 girls for degrees in STEM fields at colleges throughout the U.S. Scholarship winners’ majors have included Aerospace, Biomedical, Civil, Environmental and Software Engineering; Robotics and Computer Science at Duke, Georgia Institute of Technology, MIT, University of Central Florida and University of Florida.
Virtual Mentoring
The Virtual Role Model Mentoring Program was created in summer 2013 for ITWomen scholarship awardees who are currently enrolled and attending colleges throughout the U.S. The students are paired one-to-one with a female mentor who is a professional employed in Information Technology or Engineering with a minimum of 5 years’ work experience. The VRM program complements our Scholarship program by ensuring that our college scholarship awardees get the necessary support to remain on track and complete studies in the IT or Engineering fields initially selected.
Robotics and Programming Camp
ITWomen holds a summer Robotics and Coding Camp for girls in middle school through high school. Our camps have been made possible through generous support from sponsors such as Citrix, Microsoft and FPL's NextEra Foundation.
In 2020, we responded to COVID19 by making our summer camps virtual, which allowed us to more than double our enrollment and extend the geographic availability.
Prior to 2020 COVID year, our summer camps have been held at the Pace Center for Girls in Miami, Pace Center for Girls in Broward, and Northeast High School in Oakland Park (Broward County). Role Model speakers are invited to show girls what is possible for careers in tech. In one robotics summer camp, a physician guest speaker modeled the DaVinci robot used in surgical procedures.
ITWomen NextGen for College Students
In May of 2014, ITWomen launched the alpha chapter of ITWomen NextGen at Florida International University’s College of Business and Computing Science. The goal of the college chapters was to introduce and expose college aged women to professionals in IT and engineering and to facilitate an easier transition form college to career. NextGen members also serve as Role Models to high school girls attending ITWomen partner high schools, thereby a complete feeder program reaching into middle schools.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Management Toolkit and Industry Trends Program Series
ITWomen programs are developed in response to the needs of our members’ to keep on top of emerging trends and employment areas. We bring together subject matter experts and executives for insightful panels and quality opportunities for networking. Our past programs have included lessons learned from successful, South Florida entrepreneurs at The Venture Beehive; academic and marketing perspectives on Big Data held at JM Family, Women Rising to the Top at Burger King headquarters in Miami , and more.
Lunch and Learn
ITWomen occasionally reaches out to the professional community with a convenient Lunch and Learn date, where employees gather for an informal lunch hour question and answer session about ITWomen.
Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits
Susan Bonner One Spa World Mayte Fernandez
Stuart Noun Amy Degeenakis
Denise Walker Kelsey Tang Kirsten Otterson Mike Dowd
Sustaining Partnerships Available