Program Highlights
The GIT Photo Gallery highlights some of our recent events.

Foundation, Grants & Sponsorships

• WIT Education Foundation: In February 2004, we established the Women & Girls in Technology Education Foundation (WITEF), a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) charitable foundation focused on Girls in Technology and educational programs. The most recent WITEF Charity Golf Tournament was held in October 2007 and was a great success—raising over $14,000 for WITEF.

• TeamBusiness Fundraiser: In 2008, we mark the Fourth Annual TeamBusiness event held Saturday, April 26, 2008. This GIT event is a combined fundraiser and program for girls in Grades 9-12 across the Metro DC area. Each year, up to forty girls participate with mentors and WIT volunteers in a half-day business simulation workshop conducted by TeamBusiness USA. The teams competed as companies, learning how to run a technology company in a fun and exciting simulation environment. The 2008 fundraiser netted over $7,000 for WITEF.

• Hispanic Youth Foundation: In 2005, GIT established a partnership with the Hispanic Youth Foundation (HYF) and provided a grant to fund HYF’s innovative Laptops for Learning Dollars program, providing laptops and Internet connections for elementary and middle school students and their families in Arlington County and the City of Manassas.

• Empower Girls – CLCP Clubs: Empower Girls after-school programs were held at Hybla Valley Elementary School and Sacramento Community Center. GIT/WITEF provided funding to run these programs in conjunction with the Fairfax County Computer Learning Center Partnership (CLCP). The selected centers serve economically challenged communities in Fairfax County.

Programming Activities

• GIT Sharing Our Success: In April 2008, GIT held the 6th Annual Sharing Our Success event at Freddie Mac's McLean facility. Over 60 middle- and high-school girls attended from across the metropolitan area. The event included a networking game, hands-on demonstrations, refreshments, door prizes and women speakers who discussed their experiences of combining their love of technology with passions such as art, geography, science, education, and law enforcement/security.

• GIT Mentoring: In the Spring of 2008, GIT sponsored five high school girls to participate in the WIT Mentor-Protégé program. Selected from applicants around the metropolitan D.C. area, these girls attended monthly session designed to support networking, personal and career development and one-on-one mentoring. The sessions offer each girl a series of guided quality discussions in a community with professional women. Participating in two programs per year since 2006, GIT volunteers act as mentors and WITEF underwrites each girl's participation.

• CISCO Girls in Technology Summit: GIT partnered with CISCO Systems to sponsor a Girls in Technology Summit at Chantilly Academy, where middle school girls participated in seminars, hands-on workshops, and mentoring sessions focused on technology educational and career opportunities for young women.

• Maryland Outreach: GIT continued to strengthen its relationship with Montgomery County Public Schools. We engaged in strategic planning sessions and provided a representative to the MCPS Technology Advisory Board. We also entered into discussions with Prince Georges Public Schools.

• DC Outreach: We established a partnership with a brand new magnet school, McKinley Technical High School for Science and Technology in Northeast DC. Over 20 girls and 5 teachers and counselors attended our 2005 Sharing Our Success event.

•Alexandria TEMS: GIT continued to provide programming support for the Alexandria City Public Schools Technology, Engineering, Math & Science (TEMS) program, which targets at-risk middle-school students via a summer camp program. WIT provided program speakers and hosted students at Job Shadowing Days.

• Thomas Jefferson TechStravaganza: GIT facilitated a demonstration table for the 2008 Annual Technology Carnival run by high-school girls at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Using gumdrops and toothpicks, elementary and middle middle-school girls built a model of carbon nanotubes over 55 feet in length. In addition, WITEF provided financial support for the event.

• James Madison Middle School Career Day: GIT provided a speaker for James Madison’s end of year Career Day, showcasing career opportunities in the technology arena.

• U. of Maryland Computer Mania Day: GIT once again participated as a sponsor at the University of Maryland’s Annual Computer Mania Day for elementary school girls in the Baltimore and DC areas.

• Used Computer Donation Program: GIT facilitated the donation of used computers to the City of Frederick Public Schools and to Chantilly Academy.