3rd TechGirls Exchange Program, Brings North African Girls To United States
TechGirls Exchange Program is an international initiative meant to empower young girls from North Africa and the Middle East to pursue education and careers in STEM-related fields.
The program enables the girls experience hands-on skills development in various fields that include programming, web designing, mobile application, robotics, 3D game design and video graphics. At the end of the program, the girls will return home where they are expected to share their experience and all they have learnt with members of their communities and schools back home.
The program kicked off on July 31st and will run for three weeks till August 22nd. This year’s event has attracted 24 teenage girls from Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Lebanon, Yemen and the Palestinian Territories.
During their stay in the United States, the Middle East and North African teenage girls will interact with American teenagers while in their classrooms and the community. This is expected to help them work on their leadership skills and technical development.
The teens will also attend the iD TechCamp – an interactive technology and computer camp at American University in Washington. They will also do a meet-up with leading US tech-companies and engage in community service initiatives in Washington, D.C and in New York City.
Currently, the program boasts of over 50 TechGirls Exchange Program alumnae, who have done impressive job in sharing what they learnt with over 2,000 girls back in their home countries. They have also hosted conferences and went ahead to join leading universities around the world and take up education in STEM-related fields.
The program is part of the U.S global commitment to improve the rights of girls and women around the globe as well as ensuring representation of the female gender in the top positions in STEM jobs.
To make the event even more educational, the State Department and Legacy International have brought in other key stakeholders from both the public and private sector companies. Such as Bank of America, AT&T, Facebook, Yahoo!, Verizon, National Building Museum, Google, Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project, DoSomething.org, Bully Pulpit Project and Girls Who Code among others.
You can join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter or use the hashtag #TechGirls.