Selected
Gender Equity in STEM Challenge

Girls on the Mic: STEM Audio Training Pipeline

Girls on the Mic increases gender/racial equity in the audio/STEM fields, providing hands-on creative technology workshops and mentorship.

Team Leader
Molly Woodbury
Girls on the Mic increases gender/racial equity in the audio/STEM fields, providing hands-on creative technology workshops and mentorship.

The Problem

Women’s Audio Mission was founded in direct response to the widespread and staggering gender inequality in audio/creative technology fields:

- <5% of the people creating the sounds, music, and media in the daily soundtrack of our lives are women or gender-expansive individuals and <1% are BIPOC (USC Annenberg, 2025)

The Solution

By supporting and promoting people who have been traditionally excluded from these spaces, WAM is increasing gender and racial equity in these male-dominated fields. WAM is building a lifelong pipeline that supports youth engaging with audio technology for the first time, to adults using the tools in the studio and in workshops, to job placement in audio careers.

Using two subjects popular with youth, music and media, WAM’s free training program, Girls on the Mic, attracts and then redefines their relationship to technology and STEM. An all female/gender-expansive crew of instructors empowers them to see themselves in these roles, and learn how to use technology to express themselves and demand space in these fields. GOTM classes are free, making this training accessible, with a curriculum that is designed to be culturally and aligned with state standards to keep girls and gender-expansive youth engaged and interested in pursuing further STEM studies.

Stats

Girls on the Mic has enrolled over 31,500 girls and young women in its programs.

What is the name of your organization?
Women's Audio Mission
What is the name of your solution?
Girls on the Mic: STEM Audio Training Pipeline
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Girls on the Mic increases gender/racial equity in the audio/STEM fields, providing hands-on creative technology workshops and mentorship.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
San Francisco, CA
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
United States
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
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What specific problem are you solving?
Women’s Audio Mission was founded in direct response to the widespread and staggering gender inequality in audio/creative technology fields: - <5% of the people creating the sounds, music, and media in the daily soundtrack of our lives are women or gender-expansive individuals and <1% are BIPOC (USC Annenberg, 2025)
What is your solution?
By supporting and promoting people who have been traditionally excluded from these spaces, WAM is increasing gender and racial equity in these male-dominated fields. WAM is building a lifelong pipeline that supports youth engaging with audio technology for the first time, to adults using the tools in the studio and in workshops, to job placement in audio careers. Using two subjects popular with youth, music and media, WAM’s free training program, Girls on the Mic, attracts and then redefines their relationship to technology and STEM. An all female/gender-expansive crew of instructors empowers them to see themselves in these roles, and learn how to use technology to express themselves and demand space in these fields. GOTM classes are free, making this training accessible, with a curriculum that is designed to be culturally and aligned with state standards to keep girls and gender-expansive youth engaged and interested in pursuing further STEM studies.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
WAM serves under-represented and under-resourced women/girls and gender-expansive people facing substantial representative and economic barriers in entering STEAM and creative technology industries. WAM’s goal is to make our programs accessible for all and to close the gender gap in these fields. WAM increases access to STEAM programming to students from the most vulnerable communities in the San Francisco Bay Area, addressing education gaps and accessibility barriers at majority Title 1 (low-income serving) school partners who serve under-resourced communities. Girls on the Mic participants are disproportionately impacted by the digital divide and the lack of messaging that their voices and skills are important. Students are: ● 96% low-income ● 93% BIPOC ○ 37% Latinx ○ 34% Black ○ 16% AAPI ○ 7% White ○ 5% Multiracial ○ 1% Native American/Alaskan Native ● 43% primarily speak Spanish

Organization Type:
Nonprofit

Headquarters:
San Francisco, CA, United States

Stage:
Growth

Working In:
United States

Solution Website:
womensaudiomission.org

Solution Team:
Molly Woodbury
Molly Woodbury
Grants Manager/Writer
Terri Winston
Terri Winston
Founder & Executive Director