AT&T Donates $1M to Girls Who Code; Urges Girls to Pursue Careers in Tech Field

via press release…

AT&T today announced a $1 million contribution to Girls Who Code, a national nonprofit working to close the gender gap in the technology and engineering sectors. The announcement was made at the graduation ceremony for AT&T’s Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program, a rigorous computer science course aimed at educating, inspiring and equipping high school girls with the skills, resources and confidence necessary to pursue opportunities in the technology field.

AT&T additional contribution will help Girls Who Code expand its Summer Immersion Program and Girls Who Code clubs to additional cities across the country, offering more young women access to computer science courses and technology.

Beginning on July 11th, AT&T welcomed twenty high school girls from across the five boroughs and metro suburbs, as well as one who travelled all the way from Houston, TX, to its New York City executive office in Rockefeller Center. The intensive program, taking place for seven weeks Monday through Friday, 9 am to 4 pm, provided the girls with a college semester’s worth of computer science curriculum. The experience included interactive sessions with female executives from AT&T and a field trip to one of AT&T’s media labs. All of this culminated in today’s graduation at the AT&T Long Lines building in Tribeca and a presentation of their final projects to family, friends and AT&T executives.

“Hosting the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program is inspirational,” said Marissa Shorenstein, New York State President, AT&T, at the graduation ceremony. “The synergy between our two organizations creates almost unparalleled opportunities for more women to be exposed to technology fields. The young women’s dedication and enthusiasm for learning is remarkable and we couldn’t be prouder of all they have accomplished. We can’t wait to see what they do next.”

“As we work to close the gender gap in technology and empower young women across the country, AT&T’s collaboration — from contributing financial resources to engaging employees in our mission — has been essential,” said Reshma Saujani, Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code. “Together we are creating an environment that exposes girls to computer science careers and leaders and demonstrates to them that with this skillset, the possibilities are endless.”

“AT&T wants to grow the field of qualified young women confident to enter STEM careers,” said Nicole Anderson, executive director of philanthropy, AT&T. “Girls Who Code makes this happen so we’re thrilled to help them expand their reach to other communities across the country.”

The Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program embeds twenty rising high school juniors and seniors in a technology company, like AT&T, or university setting and combines computer science education with real-world tech industry exposure for seven weeks. Students do not need previous coding or computer science knowledge in order to apply, but must demonstrate a capacity for creative thinking and an interest in technology. Girls Who Code implemented the Summer Immersion Program in 2012 and AT&T was one of three companies in New York City to host an inaugural class.

This year’s AT&T Girls Who Code class of students comes from all five of New York City’s boroughs, with eight from Queens, two from Brooklyn, two from Manhattan, one from the Bronx, and one from Long Island. There are also five students from New Jersey and one student from Houston, Texas.

This year’s graduates learned several programming languages, created computer games using JavaScript, HTML and CSS, programmed robots, and built mobile apps from the ground up. During the final weeks of the program, the girls were tasked with creating and developing their own, original projects, which they demonstrated to each other in class and presented to the audience at graduation.

In addition to their in-house classes, the girls went on a field trip to A&T AdWorks, a cross-platform ad network connecting advertisers with target audiences across online, mobile and TV, where they were exposed to cutting edge technologies and heard from some of the AT&T employees who helped develop them.

AT&T’s support of Girls Who Code is part of AT&T Aspire, the company’s signature education initiative, focusing on school success and workforce readiness. AT&T has been involved in Girls Who Code since 2012 and has given more than $103 million to support STEM initiatives since 1987.

For more information, visit www.att.com.

Photo Credit: KnightFoundation.org