Letter From WIT Foundation President
Margot King
Inspiring Tomorrow's Technology Leaders.
It is a privilege and honor to serve as the 2010 President of the WIT Foundation. In collaboration with WIT, the Foundation is the philanthropic arm whose purpose is to fund programs and organizations whose mission is in alignment with ours — to light the way for young girls and women to explore academic and career pathways in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).
Research shows that female enrollment in STEM studies is significantly lower than male enrollments. It is our goal to help increase awareness of STEM related studies to pre-career girls to insure a diverse future workforce inclusive of women for America’s employers.
How do we do this? We have to reach out to girls at an early age to kindle the interest and talent that lies within. That is why we created Girls Get IT where we invite K – 12 girls to participate in enrichment programs:
- ‘Behind the Scene’ tours where technologists from leading companies in the Georgia community spotlight the exciting advancements in the world of technology and science.
- Summer ‘Job Shadow’ program where girls can spend a week one on one with a technologist to observe ‘A Day in the Life’ first hand.
- Talent and skills assessment workshops are available to help girls visualize how their interest can apply to a technology career.
This year our volunteers will enroll over 190 girls that will participate in the GGIT events and workshops. We are grateful for our corporate and university sponsors that have opened their doors for an inside peek into exciting new technology advancements and the impact it has on our everyday lives.
WITF continues to partner with organizations like FIRST Robotics granting funds to teams that actively recruit middle and high school girls to participate in the national robotics competition. For the fist time this year, we have created an on-line grant application (PDF) for the Foundation to see what other partnering opportunities there may be that align with our goals.
How can you help? There are many opportunities in which to participate:
- Be a volunteer.
- Give a charitable donation. (WITF is a 501c3 non-profit organization.)
- Be a Corporate or University Host to a GGIT Behind the Scenes event.
- Be a GGIT Enrollee. Teachers, encourage your female students to get involved in science and math activities.
Thanks for your support!
Margot King
President
WIT Foundation