Tallahassee Takes Off with Math and Science a Complete Success!

On February 6th, Girls Get It! (GGIT!) and the Florida Girls Collaborative Project (FGCP) hosted the Tallahassee Takes Off With Math and Science forum sponsored by the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science in Tallahassee, Florida.

Community based organizations from across the Big Bend area attended the event and were joined by representatives from the Florida Department of Education and Cisco Systems, Inc. Participants were inspired by local high school senior Netia McCray as she told of her achievements in STEM and the creation of Science Days, an afterschool program for African American elementary and middle school students. To find out more about Science Days, click here.

Those in attendance had the opportunity to meet and network with other local programs advocating gender equity in STEM education. They were also given the opportunity to explore our online Program Directory and register their respective programs. We currently have over 69 programs registered within the state of Florida and hope to have over 100 by summer. A number of new programs have been recently registered, Click Here to find a program in your area and begin collaborating today and receive a mini grant from us to get started!

Girls Get IT! would like to thank Crispers for providing us with an assortment of sandwiches and salads. Everything was delicious and we look forward to working with them again in the future.

GGIT!'s New Chapter in Miami Hits the Press!

Recently, the Miami Herald highlighted Girls Get IT! and our newest chapter that has flourished in Miami. The article emphasized our first event which took place at a local high school, the amazing  opportunities GGIT! can bring to the young ladies of our future, and the fantastic group of women who are running the program in Miami-Dade.

The first event held in Miami took place at John A. Ferguson Senior High. The coordinator, Christy Charters, invited professional women from the Information Technology (IT) field to an all day event that focused on educating groups of 30 girls in separate sessions. There was an esteemed panel that included Madeleine Garcia, Senior Director of Corporate Systems for Burger King, and Lilliam Vega, a Systems Analyst Programmer for Miami-Dade Fire Rescue to aid the young ladies in examples of careers that a person could attain if they were to get a degree in IT.

This event will be taking place at three other pilot schools including Central High, MAST, and Felix Varela Senior High. Our hope is for collaboration and recruitment to work hand-in-hand with bringing young ladies together to further educate themselves and others in both IT fields and science, engineering, and math. To plan your next adventure with GGIT!, Click Here!

Board of Champions Meeting and Kick-Off Conference - An Overwhelming Success!!

On November 8th and 9th, the Florida Girls Collaborative Project (FGCP) and Girls Get It! (GGIT!) held our first Board of Champions meeting and Kick-Off Conference in Tampa, Florida at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI).

The Board of Champions meeting marked the beginning of many face-to-face interactions between esteemed board members who include private industry, k-20 education officials and community based organizations from across the state of Florida. Items discussed included a session on how the program directory and mini-grants work for those involved and how they would be dispersed, a session on strategic planning and goals for the future of the project, and a session on our subcommittees for our participants on our Board of Champions.

Many respected people and companies were present either in person or via conference call during our Board of Champions meeting. We are excited to show the state of Florida what we have planned and what we have already accomplished with this initiative. We will keep you updated on our progress!

The Kick-Off Conference was an entire day filled with speakers, an esteemed panel, and break-out sessions to go over the program directory, mini grants, current Florida data, and tips on recruitment and outreach. Many community based organizations from the Tampa and St. Petersburg area displayed their goods to showcase their program in order to connect with others. The panel was filled with respected participants from organizations such as NASA, Raytheon, Cisco, Florida Community College of Jacksonville, and the Girl Scouts.

Overall, the entire event was a complete success! We will also host many other events in cities across Florida in the near future. Our next one is currently being planned for the spring in Orlando. Stay tuned for more information!! To find out more about the Florida Girls Collaborative Project, Click Here!!