“Girls in Tech” launches Guyana chapter

Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 July 2019, 21:20 by Writer

Girls in Tech (GIT), a global non-profit that work to put an end to gender inequality in high-tech industries and startups will launch a Guyana chapter on August 7, the organisation said Wednesday.

It is Girls in Tech’s mission to support women with the access and the community they need to succeed in the technology industry by educating and empowering women who are passionate about technology and entrepreneurship in technical industries.

As a result, they offer everything from coding courses to bootcamps to hackathons and startup competitions at any age or profession. These global programs will also be supported by local initiatives, such as Coffee & Code, a monthly mentorship meetup and an annual Tech Fair, which aim to not only introduce young women to the possibilities of careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), Robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), but also encourage industries to develop automation processes.

The Founder and Managing Director of Guyana’s chapter is Evie Kanhai-Gurchuran, a Guyanese restaurateur and tech entrepreneur who was also a 2018 Young Leader of the Americas Initiative Alumna, who has been working in various tech related empowerment projects over the past few years. It is through the “Girls and Technology can change Guyana” project, funded by YLAI and the IDB, that the opportunity for this venture became solidified.

“Having the resources of a global non-profit, gives us the opportunity to not only amplify our current efforts as individual organizations, but to be supported by highly skilled and technical people, networks and community that currently do not exist in Guyana,” Gurchuran states.

The non- profit also comprises women who have been working diligently in empowerment and STEM projects. Currently the board comprises, Penelope DeFreitas, University of Guyana, Head Of Department for the Computer Science Department, Indrawattie Hirai – Tech entrepreneur, Rosanna Ferreira – ICT Engineer in the eGovernment Agency, Ministry of Public Telecommunications, Vineeta Persaud – Lecturer at the University of Guyana, Tanika Jones – Programmer/Developer with the United Nations, and Marissa Lowden – Entrepreneur with a focus on development.

GIT was founded in 2007 and headquartered in San Francisco. The Girls in Tech global community is 60 chapters strong with an impact of more than 100,000 members in 36 countries. As a result, events and programming in each chapter vary to fit the unique needs of each community.

At the launch party, attendees will get the chance to hear about the mission to put an end to gender inequality, network and make meaningful connections with other women in the tech industry. They will also have the opportunity to learn about upcoming educational and entrepreneurial programs that Girls in Tech will be bringing to Guyana.

The event is sponsored by Sites Builders, a website and mobile application development platform that encourages users to learn and monetise the skills of building and designing responsive websites and mobile apps with or without coding.