Microsoft
08.07.15
All New York summer immersion programs met up in Times Square before heading over to Microsoft. Reshma, founder of Girls Who Code, and her son joined us!
Mo B. and Brianna G. representing Accenture on the TKTS steps moments before Kyra H. led everyone in a chant:
When I say “Girls Who,” you say “CODE!” — Girls Who Code, Girls Who Code!
The Accenture girls led the way to Microsoft — where we ran into COO of GWC, Solomon Steplight!
Our panel of speakers included: Minerva Tantoco (CTO of NYC), Susan Lyne (President of BBG Ventures), Donna Woodall (Director of Citizenship for Microsoft), Mina Markham (Front-End Engineer for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign), and Reshma Saujani (CEO and founder of Girls Who Code).
They inspired the girls to not only build up their coding skills but also skills like creativity, networking, collaboration, and interdisciplinary interests to give them an edge in the tech industry. Each speaker spoke about personal failure and how to use it to become a more successful person.
Stephen Jeffries, Technology Architect at Microsoft, introduced us to new technology being developed such as the Surface Hub, Cortana, and HoloLens. A few of our girls got play with the Surface Hub after the presentation.
We ended the day with lunch overlooking the city and left with a Microsoft cup of Starbucks-machine-brewed coffee.
Fjord
07.24.15
Accenture planned a great day at Fjord learning about technology and design!
The question of the day: “If there’s one thing you could solve for in the world, what would it be?” A few girls shared their responses:
Bridget: Building a wearable bracelet that acts as a personal doctor
Serina: Encourage girls to pursue Mathematics along with Computer Science
Emma: Make education accessible to everyone because education itself can lead to the solving of many other problems — I may not be able to cure cancer but if I give another person access to education, he/she may be able to cure it.
Fjord walked us through a design challenge — where the girls had a chance to follow a user’s journey, identify the user’s problems, and rapidly prototype a solution.
Phil, one of the employees at Fjord, gave us a tour of Fjord’s collaborative working environment filled with rooms named after movies, rooms with table tennis desks, and a cafe-style kitchen.
If you look closely, you can see the bottle cap collection on the walls!
The “Make Shop” gives designers and developers a chance to play around with their ideas.
Here the girls peak into the “Wall Street” room — which Fjord often uses to hold presentations for clients.
We even got to sign the whiteboard walls!
Thanks, Fjord, for showing us how to change the world with code and design!
Techstars
07.17.15
The girls had a chance to meet Alex Iskold, Managing Director at Techstars,
and learn all about building a successful start-up.
A warm welcome awaits the girls:
A few of our students and the Techstars logo
Isabelle D. asking Alex a question regarding the application process for Techstars
Students from the AT&T program joined us, too!
Girls Who Code: Accenture NYC 