娇色导航

Speaker 1 Welcome to 娇色导航Leadership Live. I'm Lee Rennick, executive director of 娇色导航communities for CIO.com. And I'm very excited and honored to welcome Lucy Ho, founder and executive director of Hackergal. Lucy, please introduce yourself and maybe tell us a little bit about your role and Hackergal.

Speaker 2 Thank you.

Lee. My name is Lucy. As you said, my pronouns are she and her. I'm proudly the founder and executive director of Hackergal, which is a charitable organization with the mission to inspire girls and gender diverse learners to explore the world of technology.

At Hacker Gala, we use an inclusive definition of girls and women and welcome the participation of all learners who identify as girls. Speaker 1 Fantastic.

And it is an amazing organization.

I am getting goosebumps right now, Lucy, because I've had the opportunity to volunteer and see the work that you do, and it's just so impactful, especially with some of the stats we're seeing around women now in the technology space and working in this space.

So, it's an amazing organization. So but first I wanted to ask a question about I mean, obviously, we're here to talk about Hackergal, but I'd love to learn more about your own career path, maybe like where it took you and some of the reasons why you found it.

Speaker 1 Hackergal.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Of course. when I first entered the tech world, it was clear that the space was still very much emerging and gaining a lot of traction. However, what stood out the most to me was the absence of diversity and representation.

As you know, Lee, there were very few women in the room, very few women of color in this field.

Speaker 2 And as a young woman trying to navigate the space, I often felt like an outsider.

And you can imagine that's me as an adult, let alone a young girl that's trying to navigate the space, which often led me to strong feelings of imposter syndrome, making it very challenging to feel like I belonged in the tech sector, where the dominant culture didn't reflect my own.

Speaker 2 This experience, though, fueled my desire to find a way to make tech more inclusive and accessible for the next generation of girls that will follow after us.

I knew that if I wanted to help create a shift, I needed to focus on reaching girls at a very early age, before the social norms of stereotypes take place, about who belongs in tech and what they look like.

Speaker 2 a lot of studies that I share, I'm sure you've read to us, found that a lot of, girls by high school, they've already made up their mind about what they want to study and how they're going to get there.

making it very difficult for them to switch career paths midway through. and that's why Hacker Girls mission targets young girls, allowing them to explore coding and tech before those social pressures take place and start influencing their choices in high school.

Speaker 2 so that's our goal at Hacker Girl. We aim to make tech feel exciting, accessible, and relevant. and I'm so honored that my journey has led me to found an organization that's founded on this mission. Speaker 1 Yeah.

And it's a it's a really heavy lift. I mean, founding your organization, being a woman working in tech. I interviewed, a black woman working in tech. And she said to me, you know, the glass ceiling. I said, yeah, of course.

She said, well, for a black woman working in tech, it's made of concrete. Speaker 2 Absolutely.

Speaker 1 And I just said, oh my God. Okay, so we need to do more work around ensuring that everyone has access to learning about technology and learning all the different. It's not just about coding and engineering now, right?

It's about many different types of things because every company is a tech company. you know, in these days. And so I really appreciate you letting us know and sharing what motivated you and what inspired you to create Hacker Girl.

Speaker 1 And I thank you for doing that. So let's talk a little bit more about this. Let's talk about girls being left behind in the tech sector. So I read a recent report that intruder interviewed. Excuse me, over 1600 Canadian women in tech.

And they were saying they find things like broke culture, which I find very difficult. And I have through my whole career, unconscious, unconscious bias, lack of funding to develop skills and a career path in tech are the key areas that are holding women back in their career development.

Speaker 1 Could you talk about some of the ways Hackergal is removing barriers for for young girls to really like, enjoy, and embrace the technology? Speaker 2 Absolutely.

I'm happy to address this from Hackergal's perspective. We are deeply aware that systematic barriers exist for women and girls, and underrepresented groups from thriving in the tech sector.

And our programs and our organizations are, designed not only to teach coding skills, but also to address the broader cultural and structural issues that often leave girls and women feeling behind and excluded from the tech space.

Speaker 2 firstly, at Hackergal foster a welcoming community for girls in tech where they can feel safe, included, valued. We emphasize building collaborative rather than competitively, which counters the traditional bro culture that you mentioned leave that is prevalent in tech.

by cultivating spaces where girls can learn, they can share, they can innovate together. We challenge the norms that often make tech spaces feel unwelcoming for women.

Speaker 2 Secondly, aggregate integrates EDI, diversity, equity, inclusion into principles, into all of our programing across the board to tackle both conscious and unconscious biases that exist. We provide mentorship and leadership opportunities for our girls to see themselves represented in the tech space.

And this approach helps dismantle stereotypes about who belongs in the space, what they look like. And it shows girls that they're backgrounds, their perspectives, and their identities are actually an asset in the tech space.

Speaker 2 and we always say at Hacker Girl there is power in diversity. So we really embrace that through all of our programing and in the organization.

additionally, we work really hard to remove financial and accessibility barriers by offering free workshops and programing and resources to schools across Canada, including underserved and remote communities. we have programs and resources like Hacker Girl Hub, which is our free online learning portal.

Speaker 2 allowing girls to explore the worlds of technology and coding regardless about regardless of where they live and learn.

and so providing these resources and these programs allows girls to explore what coding can do for them and also to explore what that representation could look like in the tech space. so we're very much committed to reshaping the tech landscape for future generations.

Speaker 2 Like I said, by by creating that inclusive, supportive and accessible, environment for girls to learn.

Speaker 1 You know, it's fantastic. Thank you for sharing that. And that really ties well into the next question that I have for you, because, you know, you really work are working on a multilevel impact right at Hacker Gal.

So, I love the idea, by the way, that you just mentioned, of having them remote the hacker girl hacker gal hub, you know, where people can go in and learn their online.

Speaker 1 I mean, that's such a major way of how we learn, whether it's in business or in school. So I love that that's been developed. But you really work, with educators, schools and parents together.

So could you talk a little bit about how that impacts the girls and, you know, how they maybe have very consistent and, and progressive access to Stem education, really to build future competencies? Speaker 2 Yes.

Of course. Certainly. Hackergal's approach to building a multilevel impact on girls. Stem education involves empowering an entire ecosystem around young learners, including educators and being schools parents to create that support supportive, but also, more importantly, the sustainable learning experience for these girls.

starting with teachers and educators, the the heart of our program in many ways, Hacker Girl provides comprehensive training professional development workshops to help teachers build that confidence in teaching computer science and digital skills in the classroom.

Speaker 2 Even if they don't have a background in computer science. And what we found is a lot of teachers are intimidated by digital skills, especially if they are a grade six homeroom teacher that has never taught digital skills in their careers. Right.

so it's really important that we empower these teachers to learn and to understand the importance of digital skills and why it's needed to bring them bring these skills into the classroom.

Speaker 2 We offer, turnkey resources to help teachers facilitate our hackathon program in their schools. it's a toolkit that they could pick up. It's mapped across, promotional mandates, in terms of learning outcomes, and really empowers the teachers to bring it into their schools.

But not only that, they they teach the girls these skills, and then the girls teach them, which is a really a big moment for these teachers.

Speaker 2 And many times teachers are like, this is like the the highlight of my teaching career because these girls are coming to me and and sharing their leadership skills or coding skills through Hacker Girls program.

at a school level, Hacker Girl partners with many schools and school boards across Canada to ensure that girls have regular and progressive access to Stem education, which is really key.

Speaker 2 We offer structured programs like Hacker Girls Coding Clubs in the hackathon program that allow girls to consistently engage in hands on learning experiences around Stem throughout the whole school year.

these club provides spaces for girls to live in a live and sorry to live and learn coding and digital skills, and to explore the real world applications of what technology can do for their communities and for themselves.

Speaker 2 which has been really exciting for them to to learn with the group of girls, and have Hacker girl be a small part of that experience. And for parents, they are essential, a potential part of the impact model.

We engage parents through informational sessions, through their school boards, helping them understand their role and encouraging their girls to continue exploring what coding can do.

Speaker 2 Offering that, support to create a home environment that encourages continued learning and confidence in Stem. so yeah, by supporting educators, by parent, partnering with schools, engaging with parents.

Hacker Girl really ensures that girls have multiple points of consistent and progressive access to learning, and encouragement, which fosters them to continue wanting to learn more.

Speaker 1 Well, that is fantastic. I mean, we're getting close to the holiday season, and I'm thinking about gifts and presents, and I'm thinking that this program that you've developed, I mean, is like, you know, when you're shopping for a gift and it's completely usually intentional.

You're like, I want to get a special gift for someone for their birthday or a special occasion, and you're doing that.

Speaker 1 You're thinking about that end user, but you're thinking about all the things that go into making it and then, you know, delivering it in such a mapped out and intentional way.

And perhaps it's the holiday season, but I was definitely thinking that it feels like the way you've packaged this up, your intentional way of looking at education, your research, all that you're doing is really just a gift to the educators, the schools, the parents, everybody who's involved.

Speaker 1 So thank you for that.

Speaker 2 Thankfully, we really do try our best. Our team is comprised of mainly educators who work really hard to understand, what it feels like to be in the classroom in this, time. learning looks very different post-Covid.

The experience of online learning is very new, but still at the same time evolving in many, many ways.

So we do our best to make it as simple as possible for teachers to pick up and to execute in their classrooms, reaching all of their already, very busy schedules, mandates across, you know, teaching outcomes and learning outcomes, etc..

Speaker 2 So, we do our best. It's a constant process, but, I it's something I'm very to be proud of, for sure.

Speaker 1 That's really wonderful. All right. So last question here. Now anybody tuning in that's a tech leader. And we're going to tag and obviously share information about Hacker Gal. But so a lot of tech leaders were probably listening into this you know and they're all thinking about it.

And I can tell you this everyone's thinking about how to build diverse teams. Speaker 1 Right.

Could you talk. And I've had a few people saying, how can I support Hacker Gal? I'd like to volunteer. I'd like to be, mentor. I'd like to get engaged with it.

So could you tell me how you know, those that might be listening in, both individually and from companies can really support Hacker Gal? Rather, whether it's as a volunteer or perhaps assist with funding. Speaker 2 Yes.

Of course. Thank you for asking, Lee. partnerships have always been the heart of Hacker Gal's work. We know that building a diverse tech workforce doesn't happen alone. It requires a lot of collaboration from the sector, and we're always looking for ways to strengthen those connections with the community.

like you said, Lee, for any tech leaders watching, there are several ways to get involved at Hacker Gal.

Speaker 2 Volunteering is a fantastic way to get involved. We're always looking for, guest speakers, keynote speakers that represent our communities.

additionally, financial support is critical for us to continue growing the impact here at Hackergal, reaching more girls in underserved communities, remote communities, and providing top tier resources and programs for our girls. It's so key. so funding from industry partners allows us to innovate and expand our programs.

Speaker 2 So please reach out if there's opportunities to provide sponsorship to our programs. And yeah, looking ahead, we're really excited to incorporate, more relevant themes in the tech sector such as artificial intelligence into our curriculum, into our programing.

as we all know, as tech leaders, AI is shaping the world we live and play in, and we believe it's essential that girls develop not only those technical skills, but also the critical thinking competencies to thrive in this space.

Speaker 2 so yeah, we're really excited about what's to come and how it's going to evolve our program and making it very relevant to the world that we now live in. Speaker 1 That's amazing.

Thank you for sharing that. And I meant to ask what was planned. And, you know, if you're any company out there, you're dealing with AI, you're looking at how to implement it for your own productivity. You're looking at things like prompt engineering, right.

Which is what you're talking how to interact with AI.

So I would strongly encourage you to be in touch with Hackergal to really, you know, share your learning, share what you're building out, with them so that these girls understand how to create a safe and successful environment using tools like generative AI. Speaker 2 Thank you.

Lee. Speaker 1 Yeah.

Well, Lucy, thank you so much for being here today. I so appreciate it. As mentioned to any viewers tuning in, we will include a link to the Hackergal site.

Please reach out to Lucy or any of her colleagues about how you might be able to collaborate, and support the organization. Thank you for joining us, Lucy. Speaker 2 Thanks, Lee.