TAG is a co-op style group formed to help you encourage girls who are interested in developing an interest in and experience with tech-related concepts and ideas! We seek to inspire girls with the skills and self-confidence to envision their futures as women who will follow their passions to make incredible contributions to the world with technology. Every month we'll meet at a public location to learn about a new facet of the tech space including software development, leadership, design thinking and more. Parent/Guardian members are asked to participate by being present throughout the meeting. This is a community that relies on active and involved members to thrive. If you are a tech professional and interested in presenting or mentoring, let us know!

1. The Tech Academy
For Girls
Melissa Phillips, Founder and Organizer

2. We Seek...
To inspire girls with the skills
and self-confidence to
envision their futures as
women who will follow their
passions to make incredible
contributions to the world with
TECHNOLOGY.

3. 74%
of young girls express interest in STEM fields
and computer science, yet by the time they
make decisions about what to study and
where to start their careers something
happens.
Only:
➔ 18% of undergraduate computer
science degrees and
➔ 26% of computing jobs are held by
women
*girls who code

4. 1.4 million jobs will open in
computer science by 2020.
With current trends, what
percentage is projected to
be filled by women?

5. Though we’ll have enough qualified graduates to fill 29% of
them, women will fill
Less than 3% of these jobs.
*girls who code

6. Tech Academy for Girls will
be a monthly forum for
ROLE MODELS
and mentors in tech to
share their professional
experience and expertise
to foster a girl-positive
CULTURE

7. Why it matters
We are missing out on
the innovations,
solutions and
creations that 50% of
the population can
bring.

8. Meet Sierra.
She is a 4 year old girl who loves dolls
and baking.
Though she’s an only child, she loves
being around other kids. Because she
is very outgoing and strong willed,
some adults call her ‘bossy.’

9. Meet Maya.
She loves fashion, art and
sustainability.
She sells her creations and expresses
her ideas to the world by coding and
creating animated videos, but
sometimes feels that adults are
dismissive of her business because of
her age.

10. Social expectations, gender
stereotypes and lack of role
models left Sierra feeling
discouraged and Maya
feeling discounted.

11. Then, Maya found mentors
She has been chosen by Oprah Winfrey as one of her
Supersoul 100 influencers and partnered with Google to
speak to girls about coding and computer science at their
Made with Code events.

12. The Difference
We can learn a lot from similar organizations
like Girls Who Code, GirlStart, iCode and the
Coder School, but we will expand our focus
beyond coding to cover broader segments of
technology, in which women are also
underrepresented, including:
➔ Design
Product, UX and visual design
➔ Development
traditional and emerging platforms
➔ Business & Leadership
From Agile methodology to founding
your own startup

13. Just 34 states allow computer
science to count as a math or
science graduation requirement
AND THE NUMBER OF
HIGH SCHOOLS
OFFERING AP COMPUTER
SCIENCE IS DOWN
-35% SINCE 2005.
Source: Running on empty: The failure to teach K-12 computer science
in the digital age. Association for Computing Machinery and Computer
Science Teachers Association.
Because boys get
more informal
opportunities for
computing
experience outside of
school, this lack of
formal computing
education especially
impacts girls like
Sierra and Maya.

14. An advocate
As a mom, I work as a UX Designer but
don’t know much about leadership- my
daughter’s area of interest.
I created this group to fill the gaps of
my own knowledge, to ask other tech
professionals, “Can you talk about
what you do?”... “Can you offer some
advice?”

15. From idea to reality
In 3 short weeks we grew from 1 member to 24
members. We also have a set date (3rd
Wednesday of every month), time (6:30) and
location (Improving in Plano). And we’re just
getting started.

16. Effectiveness
Girls Who Code has
partnered with Jack
Dorsey, the CEO of
Twitter, and
corporations like
Intuit to provide
mentorship to girls
in the program.

17. After teaching more
than 10,000 girls,
90% of its alumni
are now going on to
major or minor in
computer science.
Source: techcrunch..com

18. What parents are saying
My little girl is too
young to code… but I
hope she’ll be
interested to learn.
Rachel Wilcox de Quinonez,
Hurst
I am technologically
challenged but I
want so much more
for my two
daughters, age 11
and 12.
Amy Cowan, Dallas
I work at a
computer-immer
sion school, my
daughters love to
code…
Sheacy Thompson, Frisco

19. Work in tech?
Pay it forward by being a
guest speaker at TAG and
help usher in the next
generation of tech girls

20. Thank You!
We hope this presentation has inspired you to
back the Tech Academy for Girls! To join us
please visit
our Meetup page
Please email
melissanicolephillips@gmail.com
With questions, proposals
and sponsor inquiries!