Women in Tech: Charities We’re Supporting

To kick off our Women in Tech campaign, UX Connections is donating to four charities that stand with women and girls just as we do. Donations are made from each of our offices in London, Gothenburg, New York and Sydney as we want to support and make an impact on the local communities. Join us if you have the same faith!

UK: Tech She Can

Launched in 2018, Tech She Can has always seen and believed in the potential of women and girls. They are dedicated to inspiring and giving a helping hand to females interested in the technology industry. They started out as a charter launched by PwC, but announced themselves as an independent charity as of 2021, after three years of building up their organisation. Their co-CEOs, Sheridan Ash, MBE and Dr Claire Thorne, both have backgrounds in technology and have noted the need for more equal access education when it comes to getting a higher percentage of females getting into tech. 

(Image from PwC, https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/about/assets/tech-she-can-group.jpg)

A world envisioned by Tech She Can is one in which women and men have equal opportunities. To pave the way, the organisation emphasises the importance of education, tailoring different programmes for girls and women of all ages!

The offering of Tech She Can is split into three main sections:

• It starts with the Tech We Can Programme, providing parents and teachers with free resources to improve the technology literacy of 5 to 14 years olds.
• The Career Insights Programme then helps 11 to 18 year olds get a taste of prospective roles within the tech industry.
• This is followed up with 18+ Pathways, female-friendly apprenticeship opportunities that aim to increase the number of women in technology roles. These are available not only for school leavers, but also those who have returned to their studies later in life.

We are delighted to be donating to Tech She Can as part of our Women in Tech campaign, the work they do every day is integral for a fairer future. Click here to donate to TechSheCan or here to learn more about the work they’re doing for women and girls.

USA: Design for America

Design for America (DFA) sees their mission as supporting innovators to rise to social challenges. It is their belief that the challenges faced by communities could be turned into opportunities in the hands of creative problem-solvers. Therefore, DFA endeavours to equip their participants with the knowledge, tools and connections they need in order to tackle local issues.

Founded in 2008, DFA has spread across the US with studios in a variety of university campuses including Yale, Stanford and Fordham. Since then, DFA has helped to tackle more than 1200 community cases. With their eyes on the future, they’re partnering with even more organisations in order to achieve community-centred design. These include partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and community colleges, all in order to increasingly reach more (and more diverse) participants.

(Image from Shamya Zindani, https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamyaz/)

We were made aware of this fantastic organisation through our UX Consultant, Shamya. Though not a women-specific charity, Shamya noted how supported and valued she felt as a woman within the organisation, one which champions those who are otherwise overlooked. Working as Studio Lead during her time at Fordham University, said this about DFA:

“Design For America is a great space for young designers to get hand-on experience working on projects brought to us by our local community. As the DFA Studio Lead at Fordham University, my team and I encouraged research and empathetic design thinking in a graphic/visual design centred space. DFA created a community of designers where I could learn from my peers and get mentored by professors working in the field.” – Shamya Zindani, UX Connections, New York City.

To donate to DFA, or learn more about their work, click here to head over to their website.

Australia: Tech Girls Movement

Techgirls is recently celebrating its 10-year anniversary. In the past decade, Techgirls has engaged more than 14,000 girls in over 100,000 hours of digital technologies in its programmes of STEM. Techgirls believes in technology and in girls. It’s its faith that society would be better off with young women solving problems for the communities using their tech minds.

Labour shortage has been a long-term issue faced by Australia. It threatens the development of the country. Techgirls foresees Australia’s demand for STEM workers which will be approximately 1.2 million by 2025 and thus proposes to close the gap by preparing young women with digital skills to steer the country and the next generation to a better future.

(Image from Techgirls, https://www.techgirlsmovement.org/programs/)

By hosting free workshops and competitions, Techgirls hopes to give school girls hands-on experience and learning opportunities. These will hopefully fuel the entrepreneurship in women and will be carried with them all along the journey of pursuing careers in tech.

As part of our Women in Tech campaign, our Sydney office is donating to Tech Girls Movement Foundation to support their amazing work. We are glad to be able to champion organisations that have the same belief as us and be able to support the future of girls in Australia. Click here to make donations and learn more about Techgirls’ stories.

Sweden: Tjejer Kodar

Tjejer Kodar is a Swedish charity that aims to make tech and programming accessible to all girls and women. The name translates to ‘Girls Code’ and was founded in 2015 when the founders noticed a gap in the market. There was no platform that made programming fun, easy and simple. Since then, Tjejer Kodar has become one of the biggest communities in Sweden for young women in tech. 

(Image from Teknifik, https://teknifik.se/2017/09/nu-ar-vi-har-tjejer-kodar-barcelona-2017/)

As a charity, they host events and lectures together with other companies, always with tech in focus. Themes they have covered in the past are, for example, app development, intro to Javascript and coding challenges. They also have crash courses in both programming and UX design, held by their sister company Technigo. These courses are targeted towards women between the ages of 25 and 35 that are looking for a career change and a way to build their portfolio.

We are proud to support Tjejer Kodar and being a part of helping women in tech to thrive. To read more about them, visit their website and show your support!