User:Lifelonglearnerlifelong/Girls Who Code

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Girls Who Code (also known as GWC) is an international nonprofit organization that aims to support and increase the number of women in computer science. The organization was created with the intention of showing girls that coding is a problem-solving tool that can be used to invent, lead, and explore. "Girls who Code" hosts a summer Immersion Program, a specialized campus program, after-school clubs, a college club, College Loops, and a series of books. The organization is based in New York and has programs in the United States (all fifty states), Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. Girls Who Code has also released many public campaigns to raise awareness of its mission.

Summary [edit]
Girls Who Code was founded by Reshma Saujani in 2012, who came up with the idea of creating the organization during her run for the United States Congress. Reshma believed that schools along her campaign route lacked female representation in computer science classrooms. The organization began under the White House Science & Technology Initiative. Girls Who Code runs programs during the academic year teaching high school girls computing skills like programming, robotics, and web design, with sessions including projects and trips to companies like Twitter and Facebook. As of 2014, there were more than 1,500 Girls Who Code clubs across America, with the organization aiming to teach one million girls to code by 2020. By December 2014, three thousand students had completed a Girls Who Code program, 95% of whom stated they desired to major in computer science in higher education. According to the organization's 2022 report, there are approximately 185,000 colleges or post college age alumni who have completed the program.

In 2019, the organization announced plans to expand to 10,000 clubs in all 50 states. In 2020, Girls Who Code launched a free 2-week virtual Summer Immersion Program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the program serving 5,000 girls in its first year.

The organization is sponsored by several software and technology companies, including AOL, Google, and Microsoft, and in August 2014 received a $1 million contribution from AT&T.

Clubs[edit]
The Girls Who Code after-school club program is open to middle and high school girls between 13-18. These clubs are run by college students, teachers, librarians or professionals in the technology industry. Club meeting times vary between clubs but are around 20 weeks with 2 hour meetings per week. The club curriculum is built on four foundational computer science concepts: loops, conditionals, variables and functions. The organization calls these the "core-four." Club activities consist of coding tutorials, preprofessional workshops and community building events.

International expansion[edit]
In November 2018, Girls Who Code expanded to Canada. This was the organization's first international expansion. With the help of Morgan Stanley and the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries, Girls Who Code has launched at least 10 after-school clubs across Ontario. The expansion was announced at the Move the Dial Summit.

As of August 2022, Girls Who Code has also expanded to India in order to increase the number of women engineers in India from 26%. The organization partnered with United Technologies to offer a virtual two week Summer Immersion Program, virtual six week self paced program and after school clubs.