BANGALORE, February 7, 2014—Tomorrow, the Institute of International Education (IIE) will formally launch Women Enhancing Technology (WeTechTM) program in India. WeTech is a program helping more women and girls enter into, and succeed in, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) education and careers. Launched last fall at the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, this program is led by the Institute of International Education (IIE) and carried out with a consortium that includes Goldman Sachs, Google and Qualcomm Incorporated. WeTech will train women and girls across Africa, India and the United States, in developing the skills needed to fuel technological and economic growth.
In India, WeTech will help build the pipeline of girls entering into ICT by launching afterschool activities, exposing girls to role models, and engaging parents and teachers.
On Saturday February 8, Goldman Sachs will host the WeTech Inauguration Day at its Bangalore office. At this launch event, girls who are participating in the program will meet women from Goldman Sachs and Qualcomm who are volunteering their time and expertise and with whom they will work over the next three months. WeTech Inauguration Day will bring together the girls, their parents, staff and senior executives from Goldman Sachs and Qualcomm, to light a ceremonial lantern and share insights on a panel focused on the importance of encouraging girls to pursue ICT-related careers.
The girls will participate in a hands-on demo of the Technovation Challenge, a curriculum designed and provided by Iridescent, a WeTech partner. Over the course of twelve weeks, each team of girls will connect with a leader from Goldman Sachs or Qualcomm, and work together to identify a problem in their community and design a mobile app to address the issue. Participants will also learn business planning, marketing and leadership skills. During the month of April, the teams will submit their app idea and pitch to compete with girls from more than twenty countries around the world in the Technovation Global Challenge. The WeTech Inauguration Day will also serve as a Technovation Hack Day, where students, mentors, and teachers come together and are introduced to the App Inventor programming language that the teams will use in the competition.
“Goldman Sachs is proud to partner with WeTech in this important initiative. Creating a pipeline of female talent in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to narrow the gender gap in education and employment by engaging with schools, parents and corporates is critical. There is a clear multiplier effect of investing in women to create broader empowerment and gender equality” said Krishna Sudarshan, a managing director at Goldman Sachs in Bangalore.
This spring, WeTech will also launch a virtual mentoring program, creating a community to connect women leaders from Goldman Sachs and Qualcomm with women in India as they transition from their university studies into the workforce. This WeTech mentoring program will work to create a channel for women to support, connect and inspire each other within and across generations, borders and cultures.
“ICT jobs are experiencing tremendous growth globally, and engaging women at every level of STEM learning is a critical step in addressing the gender gap often seen in this industry,” said Shawn A. Covell, vice president of government affairs, Qualcomm Incorporated. “Qualcomm is pleased to be a part of the WeTech initiative as it works to help women succeed in and derive the economic benefits associated with technology jobs.”
As WeTech Manager, IIE aims to expand the consortium of partners and grow its resources to $10 million over three years, in order to build out activities and expand to additional regions in Africa, India and the U.S. as well as to new countries, such as Brazil and China. Individuals and organizations that wish to participate should contact IIE at WeTech@iie.org. For more information visit the WeTech website, Twitter and Facebook page.
About the Institute of International Education
IIE is a world leader in the international exchange of people and ideas. An independent, not-for-profit organization founded in 1919, IIE has a network of 19 offices and affiliates worldwide and over 1,200 member institutions. IIE designs and implements programs of study and training for students, educators, young professionals and trainees from all sectors with funding from government agencies, foundations, and corporations. Our vision is that educational, cultural and professional opportunities transcend borders to foster a peaceful and interconnected world where all people achieve their full potential; think and act as global citizens; and build inclusive, thriving communities. Through its Center for Women’s Leadership Initiatives, IIE provides opportunities for women worldwide to participate in cutting-edge training, professional development and exchange programs and pursue higher education. Through these programs, women develop and join networks of peers, mentors and experts and serve as effective leaders in the public and private sectors around the world.
About Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Technology Division and Goldman Sachs Gives are proud to support building the pipeline of women and girls in technology as well as strengthening the skillset of current female technologists through the WeTech partnership. Goldman Sachs Gives is a donor-advised fund through which Goldman Sachs and its senior employees can recommend grants to qualified non-profit organizations globally. Established in 2007, Goldman Sachs Gives supports charities in communities around the world with a focus on benefiting underserved populations. Its grants support programs that build and stabilize communities, increase educational opportunities, honor service and veterans, and create jobs and economic growth.
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Bangalore, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world.
Goldman Sachs Technology provides global thought leadership, solution development, delivery and support for a broad suite of technology products and services at the firm. Our ability to optimize the way we work as individuals, as teams and as a global organization flows from our ambition and commitment to innovation, our focus on teamwork and client service and our ability to work on a global scale with colleagues from around the world.
Goldman Sachs has been serving Indian clients since the early 1990s and established an onshore presence in India in December 2006 following a ten-year joint venture. Today, it serves leading corporate and institutional clients through corporate finance (investment banking), equity sales and trading and fixed income securities businesses, as well as providing macro-economic and investment research and asset management services. Goldman Sachs is also active in private equity and principal investing in India, deploying more than US$2 billion in capital since 2006. In addition, the firm’s 4,000-person Bangalore office provides critical support and service functions for Goldman Sachs around the world.
About Qualcomm
Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is a world leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies. Qualcomm Incorporated includes Qualcomm’s licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of its patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of Qualcomm’s engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of its products and services businesses, including its semiconductor business, QMC. For more than 25 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of digital communications, linking people everywhere more closely to information, entertainment and each other. For more information, visit Qualcomm’s website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.
To find out more about the work Qualcomm and its project collaborators are doing, please visit qualcomm.com/wirelessreach.
About Technovation Challenge
Technovation is the global technology entrepreneurship program for young women, with over 1,300 alumnae from 19 countries. Middle school, high school, and university students work in teams to research, design, build, and launch a mobile app prototype through a 50-hour curriculum over 3 months, with guidance from dedicated volunteer teachers and female mentors who are professionals in STEM and business careers. They pitch their mobile app “startups” to investors via YouTube and compete for a chance to travel to Silicon Valley to make live pitches for $20k in seed funding toward further app development. No prior app development experience is necessary and it’s free to participate. Technovation is a program of Iridescent, a 501c3 non-profit organization in the United States. Learn more at Technovation.
Contacts
Public Affairs