ProjectCSGIRLSA national nonprofit dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology and computer science

Pooja ChandrashekarFounder and CEO of ProjectCSGIRLSSenior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

www.projectcsgirls.com

Dismal Statistics…

Only 25% of technical jobs and only 12% of computer science degrees are held by women, as compared to 37% a decade ago.

Perpetuating Stereotypes…

The programmer stereotype is a big part of why girls shy away from pursuing computer science and technology.

The Environment…

Girls grow up in an environment that fails to emphasize how fascinating and creative computer science is.

The Need

ProjectCSGIRLS was founded with the goal of changing this. Our mission is simple:

Inspire more girls to pursue computer science and technology.

The ProjectCSGIRLS Competition for Middle School Girls

In our signature national competition, participants are challenged to use computer science and technology to help solve a social problem that falls under one of three themes – global health, a safer world, and intelligent technology. We look for creative, powerful, and disruptive projects.

ProjectCSGIRLS Workshops

We host workshops around the country to help expose girls to a variety of different exciting computer science topics and to help teach them to think beyond the boundaries.

Mentorship

We match girls to top technical professionals to help mentor them during the course of their projects. Mentorship is a key aspect of the success of our program.

Overview of ProjectCSGIRLS

In our inaugural year, ProjectCSGIRLS was only open to middle school girls in VA, MD, and DC. However, that didn’t stop the projects we saw from being incredible. Here are just a few examples of the kinds of projects the girls worked on:

Personalized lip reading system for veterans using machine learning and image analysis [1st Place]

A novel genetic algorithm for cybersecurity applications [2nd Place]

Both individuals and teams of up to 3 girls were allowed to compete.

We also received generous corporate sponsorship from: The Thiel Fellowship, iStrategyLabs, and George Mason University

The 2014 Competition

We convened over 130 people for the 2014 Awards Gala including students, teachers, professionals, and professors. The gala included participants’ projects on display, guest speakers, activities, and a documentary screening

The 2014 Awards Gala

Now in its second year, the ProjectCSGIRLS competition is open to all middle school girls (6th – 8th grade) living in the continental United States. Our target is to reach at least 500 girls across the country this year.

Participants can build, code, or prototype novel solutions to imminent social problems falling under one of three themes – global health, a safer world, and intelligent technology.

They then submit a technical report detailing their product or prototype and their results, as well as a 2-5 minute pitch video.

Both individuals and teams of up to 3 girls may participate.

Finalists, State Winners (1 per state), Regional Winners (5 per US region), and National Winners will be selected. Regional Winners will be invited to the national gala in June.

The 2015 Competition

A unique – and incredible – celebration of girls in computing in Washington, D.C. in June of 2015…

In this two-day event, regional winners will interact and network with leaders in technology, tour tech companies in the DC area, and participate in a formal awards ceremony recognizing them and announcing the national winners.

The event will feature guest speakers, workshops, and activities and will open the girls' eyes to technology and computer science and show them how exciting these fields can be. They will also get the opportunity to showcase their projects to the public during the event.

We have partnered with a number of local, national, and global nonprofits that support women in technology for our national gala event as well as received corporate sponsorship and grants.

The National Gala

Our 2015 PartnersOur partners provide invaluable support to ProjectCSGIRLS by hosting workshops at our national gala, helping us promote ProjectCSGIRLS to middle school girls across the country, and working with us to encourage girls in technology

Our 2015 Sponsors Till DateOur sponsors provide key financial support for ProjectCSGIRLS. Please note that the sponsor names provided here are till date because we fully expect to significantly increase the number of sponsors in the coming weeks.

Over the next few months, we will be hosting workshops in the following states: Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, California, New York, New Jersey, Maine, and DC (and are looking into adding more)

Our open-ended workshops around the country help introduce middle school girls to different computer science topics. Each workshop is different and is run by members of our team. We also bring in tech professionals to help mentor the girls.

Examples of topics covered include mobile app development, web design, robotics, and game programming. Workshops only provide the girls with a basic introduction to a range of computer science applications, but also give them space to be creative and innovative and work on projects of their own choosing. 

Workshops

We want to give the girls a bit of experience with what it’s like to be a part of the tech industry, so we bring in tech professionals for 2 purposes: mentorship and judging

Mentorship – Every participating individual/team can ask to be paired with a mentor. Our mentors are hand-picked professionals working in the tech industry, from software developers to biomedical engineers. They will advise them on their project, help them improve their pitch, and provide them with valuable feedback.

Judging – Each submission will be reviewed by 2 judges. Our judges are also professionals working in the tech industry. They will be given a highly detailed rubric to judge the projects. The cumulative sum of the judges’ totals will determine a submission’s final score.

Mentorship and Judging

The success of a program often depends on a strong core team. Over the past year, I’ve brought together around 50 extremely talented high school and college students from around the country to serve on the Executive and Outreach Teams of ProjectCSGIRLS.

I’ve also put together a Board of Directors and Advisory Board made up computer science professors, entrepreneurs, and directors of national organizations supporting women in technology.

I couldn’t have asked for a better team.

Please see the names and bios of our team members here: http://www.projectcsgirls.com/the-team

The Team

In 2014, we reached over 100 girls just in the DC metro area and convened over 130 people for the 2014 Awards Gala.

This year, we’re going national with the goal of reaching at least 500 middle school girls across the country.

Our workshops, scheduled in 10 states, for the upcoming months will reach over 300 girls.

Raised around $10,000 till date in corporate sponsorship and grants and expect this to double over the next few months.

The Impact

Some of the recognition and honors I’ve been fortunate enough to receive for the amazing

journey that has been ProjectCSGIRLS!

Recognition and Honors for ProjectCSGIRLS

Selected as one of 30 #Include Fellows nationally to attend the She++ #Include Fellowship at Stanford University and Silicon Valley for outstanding technical work and computer science outreach.

Presented ProjectCSGIRLS at the #Include Summit, at Microsoft’s Silicon Valley campus, and networked with top technologists.

2014 Stanford She++ #Include Fellowship

2014 NCWIT National Award for Aspirations in ComputingSelected as a National Winner of the National Center for Women in Information Technology (NCWIT) Award for Aspirations in Computing for my computing-related work and accomplishments, one of which was ProjectCSGIRLS. Also received a $1000 Brad Feld Scholarship for Aspirations in Computing.

One of 35 winners from a national pool of over 2,300 applicants.

2014 ABC News Summer of Service AwardSelected as a recipient of the ABC News and Youth Service America Summer of Service Award and received a $1000 grant for my work with ProjectCSGIRLS.

Speaker at the 2014 O’Reilly Velocity New York ConferenceInvited to speak at the 2014 O’Reilly Velocity New York Conference, one of the largest tech conferences in the country, for my work with ProjectCSGIRLS, as part of the Ignite session and Women’s Meetup (youngest speaker in history).

Received a standing ovation from a room of 200+ people for my talk “Showing Girls How to Break the Tech Gender Stereotypes”

2014-2015 Catapult Incubator at Ashoka’s Youth VentureSelected as a Fellow and Venture Founder of ProjectCSGIRLS for Catapult Incubator at Ashoka’s Youth Venture, the nation’s top youth entrepreneurship program and startup incubator. One of 20 Founders selected for the program.

Will be participating in Catapult at the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Global Tech Leader for Global Tech WomenSelected as a Global Tech Leader to represent the US for Global Tech Women, a nonprofit organization working to empower women in technology around the world.

Will be speaking at the 2015 Global Tech Women Voices Conference on how to encourage middle school girls in technology.

Other RecognitionsFor my work with ProjectCSGIRLS, I’ve also been…

Featured as an “Inspirational Women Leader” in Women LEAD

Spotlighted by Tech-Girls as an exceptional women in technology

Featured by Eduzine Global for outstanding youth achievement

Other Work to Encourage Girls in TechnologyApart from ProjectCSGIRLS, here are some of the other initiatives I’ve founded or worked on to encourage girls in technology.

Game Programming with Microsoft Kodu – Received seed funding from NCWIT AspireIT to start a game programming program for middle school girls at George Mason University; Ran 2 sessions for 2 semesters; Recognized by Microsoft during Computer Science Education Week

Fairfax Math Circle for Middle School Girls – Co-founded a weekly math circle at George Mason University; Have led the circle for three years

NCWIT Mobile App Development Team – Worked as part of the national Development Team to develop an app to provide support and resources for women in technology

Thank You!

For more information on ProjectCSGIRLS, please see our website: www.projectcsgirls.com