imagine, discover, create

2020 - A Year in review

Tech-Girls offers programming across the K-12 spectrum. The focus through all of the opportunities we offer girls in the community is to spark their interest in technology and computer science, build their confidence, nurture an inclusive community and help girls develop their own tech identity. Here are some highlights from 2020:

Before COVID-19 shut down in person events:
  • We hosted Girls' Geek Day sessions at Meriwether Lewis Elementary School and St. Anne's-Belfield School Learning Village. Both events drew 68 participants and 24 volunteers each.
  • We brought the #TechGirlsChallenge to the Virginia Discovery Museum’s Kid*Vention.
  • We hosted Tech-Girls hands-on workshops at C4K.
  • We were awarded a grant from the state of Virginia as part of a research-practice partnership (RPP) with Charlottesville City Schools, the University of Virginia, and C4K.
After the pandemic interrupted our daily lives, we got creative:
  • We held a Virtual Girls' Geek Day in May with volunteers recording videos to share their hands-on activity.
  • We took Bio-Med Tech-Girls online for a week in August and had more participation than ever! The program is a collaboration between the UVA Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) and Charlottesville Women in Tech. This year the week was filled with guest speakers, hands-on activities and a design challenge focused on the Go Viral Project developed by Dr. Jeff Saucerman and Dr. Shayn Peirce-Cottler from UVA BME.
  • The Charlottesville Computer Science Community was recognized as a finalist for the CBIC's Partnership of the Year award.
  • Kim Wilkens, Tech-Girls founder, joined forces with Sarah FitzHenry to co-host the Once Upon a Tech podcast, where many inspiring girls and women in tech have been interviewed.
  • We launched Noelle's STEM Corner with activities to engage middle and high school girls in STEM-related learning at home.
  • We launched Create a New Story in collaboration with CBIC and SPARK! CS powered by St. Anne's-Belfield School, where students in middle and high school can get a behind-the-scenes look at the local tech scene in Charlottesville.
We are thankful to the following organizations for their support this year: AHS Robotics, Charlottesville Business Innovation Council (CBIC), C4K, Junior League of Charlottesville, STEAM Discovery Academy, SWENext: Albemarle High School, SWE at UVA, Grad SWE at UVA, Virginia Discovery Museum, WAHS Robotics, as well as UVA’s Gahlmann, Pierce-Cottler, and Saucerman Labs.

Annual Highlights

Tech-Girls