By
Amy Truel, Project Development Committee
The Tech Museum was little more than a dream in
1978 when the Junior League of Palo AltoŸMid
Peninsula (JLPAŸMP) hit upon the
idea to create a dynamic learning center devoted to science and technology.
This idea led to the founding of The Tech Museum of Innovation, incorporated in
1983 as a nonprofit in Junior League member Julie Rose’s kitchen.
With a new focus on encouraging girls to engage
with technology, we have re-teamed with The Tech to launch three exciting
initiatives. One will pair league members with middle school girls
participating in The Tech Challenge, an annual team design challenge for
4-12 grade that reinforces the scientific and engineering process with a
hands-on project to solve a real-world problem. The league will also provide funding to establish
"Girls @ The Tech Days," a new program focused on engaging girls with
STEM education.
Girls from the Peninsula will be transported to The Tech, where
they will participate in hands-on workshops, interact with exhibits, and hear
from women working in tech today.
Members will also aid in establishing the Girls @ The Tech Committee,
which will help provide future community and financial support for the museum.
"The Tech is enormously grateful for the
support provided by the JLPAŸMP,"
said Jessica Christie, Director of Individual Giving at The Tech. "Without
their efforts the museum would not exist, and their renewed support will allow
us to focus on the crucial issue of inspiring girls to connect with STEM."
We are
also launching an exciting new project with Technovation, a program that was
founded right here in Mountain View in 2010 and now reaches girls in 60
countries around the world. Technovation
runs an annual mobile
app startup competition for girls, challenging them to
create apps for the purpose
of solving real problems in their communities. The girls work with volunteer coaches
(or
teachers) and women professionals who serve
as mentors.
As a capacity building
project, the goal is to increase the number of girls ages 10-18 who develop
competence and confidence in technology and entrepreneurship in Santa Clara and
San Mateo counties by engaging local teachers and women in technology to
coordinate the program for local students.
Committee members will participate in outreach and collaboration with
local school, community and corporate leaders, and organize events such as
workshops and a regional pitch event.
These partnerships are the
result of a long-term planning process during which league members engaged with
several community organizations to assess needs and identify potential
projects. The new focus area, Getting
and Keeping Girls in Technology, will take effect in June of 2015, and will
continue for five years.
"Our team did an outstanding job of
becoming experts in each issue area and identifying various strategies for our
membership to create meaningful and measurable community impact," commented
Project Development Committee co-chair and immediate past president, Joy Baker
Peacock.
Two of our committee members will be
leading the new projects, a testament to their commitment. Kate Thome will be chair for the Tech
Challenge Mentors project and Samantha Quist will be co-chair for the
Technovation Capacity Building project.
“We are grateful for their support and fortunate to have continuity from
project selection to execution,” commented Project Development co-chair Noelle
Santamaria.
Thank you to the 2014-15 Project
Development Team!
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