What is the name of your organization?
Code Girls United
What is the name of your solution?
Code Girls United
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Technology Empowerment
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Kalispell, MT 59901, USA
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
United States
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Only 24% of computer science jobs are filled by women, with less than 2% of those jobs held by Native American women. In a state in which Computer Science is not a K-12 requirement for graduation, only 10% of female students receive any computer science or technology education. With the rapid growth and expansion of technological application in every career field, women are at a great disadvantage due to the lack of opportunity and resources- particularly women in rural, economically restricted or predominantly indigenous communities.
Code Girls United hosts programming across the state of Montana. Montana’s public school system is made up of 684 schools, with approximately 74% of schools designated as rural, which presents unique challenges. Typically, school districts in the most populated areas may implement Computer Science education, but only at the high school level, not middle school. Rural and tribal areas are effected to a greater degree as students have restricted access to these opportunities due to lack of funding, resources, and female mentorship.
What is your solution?
Code Girls United provides free, after-school programs that promote social-emotional learning, career readiness, and tools for self-sufficiency while building critical technical skills. Currently, we have 38 after-school programs. In the first semester, new participants are taught the fundamentals of computer science and coding using MIT's App Inventor, while returning participants are taught more in-depth lessons in computer science and learn advanced programming concepts. In the second semester, the girls are split into teams and tasked with identifying a community need, creating a business framework for their community service project, and developing an app as a solution to the community problem. The girls typically meet once a week outside of class to discuss their app development, marketing surveys and research, competitive analysis, business plans, prototypes, flow charts, overall product design, budget, video production, and presentations. Simulating a real-world business and software development process, each team of girls completes their app, develops a pitch, and creates demo videos for competition in which they can earn scholarship awards.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our programs are designed for 4th-12 grade girls from rural and tribal communities across Montana. Currently 72% of our participants qualify for free or reduced lunch programs, 92% qualify as rural, and 21% identify as Native American. The barriers to economic security for our demographics include limited access to educational and employment opportunities, as well as lack of resources and infrastructure to support economic mobility. Code Girls United is addressing the lack of educational opportunities with Computer Science since it is not a requirement in the state of Montana, and helping to provide mentorship and guidance for more economically prosperous future opportunities in the technology sector.
