Last year nearly 5,900 girls from 60+ countries submitted app-based solutions to community problems, supported by more than 7,000 volunteer ambassadors, mentors, and judges. We want to take a moment to say how grateful we are for this community.
Our partners’ continuous support, our volunteers’ unmatched dedication, and the innovation of students and mentors has astonished us. In the face of so much uncertainty and complication, you have worked so hard to make sure that girls around the world have the opportunities to learn about technology and entrepreneurship and bring their ideas for better, healthier communities to life. Thank you for letting us be part of your learning and professional journeys.
Last year we celebrated our 15-year anniversary, which prompted a great deal of reflection. What are we doing well? What can we do better? What efforts do we want to support more of, and how?
Responding to those questions, in 2022 we are paying special attention to supporting girls as they develop innovative solutions to help address the climate crisis, and we’re focusing on building deeper support for all Technovation alumnae. We’re also excited to support younger learners through our new Beginner Division, as well as broaden girls’ exposure to cutting edge technology by expanding submissions to include AI prototypes.
All of this work is made possible through the support of our partners. This year we are proud to say that Technovation is supported by TEKsystems Global Services, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HSBC, ServiceNow, Synopsys, the TE Connectivity Foundation, Intel, Baxter International Foundation, eBay Foundation, the Intuitive Foundation, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Shopify, Oracle, and Vodafone, among others. With their support, Technovation will be able to better support girls around the world to develop technology and entrepreneurship skills. We are also grateful to partners for offering feedback and expertise that helps us improve our program year after year.
“We are pleased to once again partner with Technovation to help girls and women develop vital skills needed to be leaders in an increasingly tech-centric future,” said William Chiu, Global Head of Future Skills, Corporate Sustainability at HSBC.
“Technovation creates significant and lasting change through providing opportunities to practise real-world problem-solving – we’re excited to see what community issues will be addressed through the innovative app submissions for our Climate Prize.”
Educating Girls is critical to addressing the climate crisis
Educating girls is one of the best investments towards sustainable development and an important social and economic factor for climate resilience. Educated women are more empowered managers and stewards of natural resources, they increase the resilience of their communities, and they ensure that the teams they work on are developing more innovative and effective solutions.
Girls are already stepping up to help address climate change—each season, a greater number of Technovation Girls teams choose climate change as their “real-world” problem to tackle—in 2021, that number grew to 24% of all teams.
All of this is why Technovation and our partners have committed to sharing more resources for girls to create and implement their own climate solutions.
- In partnership with ServiceNow, Technovation will empower ~1,300 girls, parents, mentors, educators to tackle the SDGs using AI & mobile tech, with a special focus on applying AI tools to solving climate change related problems.
- In partnership with the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Technovation will deepen our curriculum and resources to include more examples of effective climate solutions, encouraging girls to think beyond recycling apps and waste disposal apps and instead consider examples of creative climate action. This will include a wide geographic focus, and will include resources for girls to access large datasets to help guide their work.
- In partnership with UNOOSA, Technovation will support girls to learn how to use and apply climate datasets to their climate solutions. This partnership will also include mentorship for girls on how to effectively use big data to tackle complex issues and evaluate impact.
- With the support of HSBC, Technovation will again award a Climate Prize to a team that clearly addresses a specific local issue related to climate change with their app. Each student will receive $500 in recognition of their efforts to think and act realistically and practically about climate change’s effects on their immediate community.
Supporting Technovation Girls Alumnae
Technovation is also ramping up support for our incredible program alumnae. Technovation Girls alumnae play a key role in our Technovation community: after participating for multiple years, some alumnae come back to lead local girls in their communities, as Student Ambassadors. They champion local girls to complete the program, and help their local Chapter and Club Ambassadors to host events and celebrations. Alumnae also return as mentors and judges, offering guidance and support to the Technovation community.
Technovation alumnae also go on to study computer science, and many also pursue careers in tech—sometimes with some of Technovation’s corporate partners! Gaby participated in Technovation Girls in high school because her math teacher invited her to join a team, and the experience confirmed her interest in computer science. She’s since gone on to join Shopify’s Dev Degree program, where she’s gaining hands-on technical and professional experience while earning a degree in computer science.
“I had a great Technovation experience. It was certainly challenging, but I learned so much in the process. Not only did I build my first mobile app, but I got to visit many impressive tech companies in my city—many of which I never knew existed. This showed me how diverse the field of computer science is and how many different possibilities there are for career paths. In fact, I visited Shopify for the first time because of Technovation. It had such a positive impression on me that I joined Shopify’s Dev Degree program right after high school!”
We know that Technovation Girls alumnae go on to do incredible things—they start their own companies (sometimes built from the seeds of what they started in Technovation Girls), work at leading tech companies, and become community leaders.
In short, Technovation Girls alumnae are incredible, and all of them deserve more support.
Beginning in 2022 and extending beyond, we are proud to announce additional support and resources for our alumnae, made possible through support from Vodafone, Shopify, and ServiceNow.
- Technovation has offered three free career-boosting workshopsto help alumnae at the beginning of their careers. These workshops will offer practical advice on skills like networking, interviewing, and finding a good company fit, and will be tailored to specific regions.
- Technovation is planning our first ever Alumnae Career Summit for October 2022, which will connect alumnae 18+ years of age and older with networking opportunities.
- Technovation will also continue to build out our existing networks for Technovation alumnae, including our alumnae-only newsletter and LinkedIn groups.
Building Local Capacity
In 2022 Technovation is especially grateful to all of our partners for continuing to invest in girls’ education as we reflect and rebuild from the pandemic. The global Technovation community is not only girls, but also the incredible volunteers who give so generously of their time and attention to run the local Technovation Clubs and Chapters, or to mentor teams. We are excited to team up with Oracle to support these volunteer mentors and ambassadors and help re-build local capacity by training mentors and connecting ambassadors with resources they need.
The Technovation community is vibrant and innovative, and we are grateful for everyone who is a part of it—girls and parents and families, partners, mentors, judges, ambassadors, supporters and champions. Thank you for working with us in 2022 and beyond.
If you’re ready to support girls’ technology and entrepreneurship education around the world, let’s talk. Get in touch with us to learn how you and your employees can connect with and support girls as they take their first steps to becoming the innovators and leaders of tomorrow.