I had an excellent experience on April 22, 2021, as Master of Ceremony and Expert Panelist in this international webinar celebrating and promoting Girls in ICT (Information and Communication Technologies and STEM). It is difficult to quantify participation because many classrooms connected with a single user. We estimate that more than 200 people logged on live. There is certainly a lot of interest in promoting girls and women to join ICT careers.
The webinar’s name was: Invigoration of the ICT field post COVID – creating Opportunities for GIRLS in ICT through a United States and India International Exchange. This event has been timed to mark the International Girls in ICT Day 2021.
The virtual event was sponsored by The Aspire Artemis Foundation, The DAIS India, and The New York City Mayor’s Office for International Affairs. I wish to express my gratitude to Ms. Hermina Johnny, Founder of the Aspire Artemis Foundation, for inviting me to be part of this consequential event.
The keynote speaker of the event was Esq. Ursula Wynhoven, the International Telecommunications Union or ITU Representative to the United Nations. We also had an interesting panel led by Ms. Christie Saint-Vil, she’s the Strategic Relationships Manager, for NYC Junior Ambassadors. The stars of this panel were several young girls (middle school!) in India and in the United States who are doing great things in ICT and other fields: Ms. Gauri Sharma (State Bank Officers Association School), Ms. Keerat Sandhu (The Lawrence School Sanawar), Ms. Jayla Quezada (MS29: The Melrose School Bronx, NY), Ms. Anna Santos (NYC Junior Ambassador Mott Hall School), and Ms. Morgan Massey (MS29: The Melrose School Bronx, NY). Two experts also joined the panel: Mrs. Rupa Chakravarty from Suncity Schools in India and Dr. Eliut Flores from Digital KORU and the University of Puerto Rico.
I learned quite a bit from all our presenters, particularly from the young girls, because they helped all of us better understand their motivations, accomplishments, challenges, and hopes for the future, which can serve us well to empower other girls to follow in their footsteps. Yes, they are very young and they have become role models already.
I invite you to watch the recording and to join us in the mission to help more girls get into ICT and STEM.
