December 2014

National Girls Collaborative Project Header

In This Issue

Collaborative Network Activities

FabFems Spotlight

Upcoming STEM Events
Champions for Collaboration

Quick Links

NGCP Updates

The National Girls Collaborative Project would like to thank our community for making 2014 such an exciting year! As we reflect, we are filled with gratitude for the commitments from our partners. We are proud of our achievements in advancing the agenda in gender equity, encouraging girls in STEM, and fostering collaboration. Our efforts in these areas would not be possible without your partnership. We look forward to a new year filled with meaningful work and new ways to serve, contribute, and collaborate. All of us at the NGCP wish you a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!

NGCP Celebrates CSEdWeek - Spotlights from Around the Country

Throughout Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek), December 8-14, 2014, we will celebrate and spotlight exemplary programs and organizations providing computer science education for girls in their communities. Watch for our two e-blasts next week and join the celebration online, where we will be featuring programs all week, by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.

Collaborative Network Activities

Million Women Mentors (MWM) State Partners Town Hall Webinar
December 4, 2014; 2:00 - 3:00 PM Eastern

NGCP Collaborative Leadership Team members will share their successes in mobilizing the states and leveraging existing STEM networks to advance girls and young women in STEM careers through mentoring. These representatives will discuss how to engage local and regional non-profit partners to build the momentum and push forth mentoring efforts, provide details on how to utilize the MWM resources, and discuss how to best capture mentoring metrics, measure and track data, and achieve success for state efforts.

Estefania Ortiz

The FabFems Spotlight highlights women from the FabFems Role Model Directory. FabFems are enthusiastic about the science and technology work they do and want to inspire a future generation of FabFems. Search the Role Model Directory to find FabFems to connect with in your area.

Meet Estefania Ortiz, computer science student with a concentration in artificial intelligence, at Stanford University. She has had software engineering internships at Microsoft, Facebook, and Good Eggs. In her free time she enjoys writing, working outdoors, dancing, and traveling. Connect with Estefania today.

We benefit from role models at all stages of our lives. The FabFems Role Model Directory is excited to have more college students joining the directory and recognizing the power they have as role models.

Stay connected to FabFems:

Upcoming STEM Events

Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek)

Nationwide; December 8-14, 2014

CSEdWeek raises awareness about the impact of computing, the richness of computing careers, and the critical need for computer science (CS) education. CSEdWeek is a call to action to inspire students and colleagues about CS education, to employ new and better strategies for engagement, and to connect with the broader community about the need for and value of CS education.

Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) International Meeting

Portland, OR; January 7-10, 2015

ASTE is dedicated to continuing the professional growth and development of individuals who work in, or have a strong interest in, issues related to science teacher education. Participants will have the opportunity to attend a wide-range of professional development workshops. Register

Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators Conference
Orlando, FL; February 12-14, 2015

This conference features thought-provoking sessions, and opportunities to network and collaborate with mathematics teacher educators. Session topics include: Equity and Mathematics Education, Teacher Professional Development, and Teaching and Learning with Technology. Register

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting
San Jose, CA; February 12-15, 2015

The AAAS is dedicated to advancing science for the benefit of all people. This event features Family Science Days, lectures that explore a diverse range of recent developments in science and technology, and world-renowned plenary speakers. Register

Beyond School Hours XVIII

Orlando, FL; February 18-21, 2015

At this conference educators and administrators will have the opportunity to network, share ideas, and engage in professional development and capacity building. Register

Champions for Collaboration

NGCP Champions Board members are selected to provide the NGCP with a balance of expertise and regional representation. We highlight Champions Board members to inspire and inform your work to engage girls in STEM. This month we feature Barbara Gault, VP and Executive Director of the Institute for Women's Policy Research.

Barbara Gault
What excites you most about your work? I love that I get to do research designed to support social change. I have always enjoyed the research process: identifying important questions that haven't been answered, designing relevant methods, and getting results. It is even more gratifying when our studies inform new policies or programs, such as new laws requiring employers to provide workers with paid sick leave that have passed in a number of cities and states around the country. I met a woman at a conference recently who said that our report, about welfare recipients in higher education, motivated her to go to college and she carries the study with her on her smart phone. Times like that make me glad to be doing science in an applied setting. I am lucky to have a job where I am always learning about new issues, and collaborating with brilliant new partners, who are committed to a positive vision for the future.

What do you most appreciate in a collaborator? There are all kinds of qualities that contribute energy to a collaboration. Nobody possesses them all. I appreciate a sense of humor, an optimistic attitude, authenticity, passion, a willingness to learn from mistakes, openness, humility, accountability, a growth mindset, skills of all kinds, and intellect. Every collaboration brings a different mix, which is what makes it so interesting! Part of the joy is learning about the gifts and talents of others, picking up new skills along the way, making new friends, and celebrating your accomplishments together.

What advice would you give to the NGCP community? I would encourage our NGCP community to take some risks together, and to be a little noisier, more demanding, and more creative about ensuring that girls, and especially low-income girls and girls of color, have more opportunities to immerse themselves in STEM. We need to inspire more energized commitment to speeding the pace of change, especially in computer IT. Together we can hold schools, colleges, businesses, and other employers and the media accountable for making progress toward gender and racial/ethnic equality in STEM.

STEM Resources

Accessible Hour of Code

Hour of Code has a new accessible option available: Quorum Hour of Code Tutorial. Quorum started as an interpreted language originally designed to be easier to hear through screen readers for blind or visually impaired users and eventually became a general purpose programming language designed for any user.

America After 3PM

America After 3PM, an Afterschool Alliance publication, provides an overview of how children spend the hours between 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM and provides data on afterschool program participation, the benefits associated with participation in afterschool programs, and public support for afterschool programs.

CODE2040 Summer Fellowship Program Applications Now Open

CODE2040 Summer Fellowship Program places high performing Black and Latino/a software engineering students in internships with top tech companies and provides mentorship, leadership training, and network development. Submission deadline is January 5, 2015.

Computer Science Toolkit and Gaming

The lessons included in this toolkit provide a fun and safe environment for girls to experience computing and gain the knowledge, encouragement, and the support they need to become future innovators in technology.

Hour of Code

Hour of Code is an introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code" and show that anyone can learn the basics to be a maker, a creator, an innovator. Check out a variety of self-guided tutorials on a browser, tablet, or smartphone. The website features unplugged tutorials for classrooms without computers. No experience needed.

JASON Learning Contests

JASON Learning and its partners sponsor a variety of contests each year for K-12 youth. Current contests include the Automobile Recycling Awareness Contest and the Plastic Film Recycling Contest. Contest winners receive prizes from the JASON Project.

NCWIT Heroes

NCWIT Heroes is a series of magazine-style audio interviews highlighting women entrepreneurs in information technology careers. NCWIT Heroes are women innovators from start-ups, small companies, and non-profits, whose ideas and products are changing the way we think, work, play, and communicate.

STELAR Monthly Highlight

STELAR's latest monthly highlight features a collection of resources from the ITEST program that share strategies for recruiting and engaging diverse youth in STEM programming.

NGCP Program Directory: Search for Collaborating Programs or Register Your Program! The online Program Directory highlights programs that focus on motivating girls to pursue STEM careers. The purpose of the directory is to help organizations and individuals network, share resources, and collaborate on STEM-related projects for girls.

Global Resources

Big Dream

Big Dream is a documentary film that follows the stories of seven young women in technology fields around the globe. Each story takes a look at these young women's ambitions and how they overcome personal challenges to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. One of the goals of the film is to excite young women, their families, and friends about the possibilities inherent in STEM fields.

Partners

About Us

The National Girls Collaborative Project™ is partially funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, GSE/EXT: National Girls Collaborative Project: Building the Capacity of STEM Practitioners to Develop a Diverse Workforce, Grant No. HRD-1103073.