Spotlight of the Week - Ada Academy
What is Spotlight of the Week?
As we know, Empowered Women Empower Women. I plan to live out this mantra by amplifying one of my favorite things: women making their mark in tech. My goal each week is to highlight women I look up to, organizations I support, and general knowledge that I find interesting that pertains to this topic. Please reach out if you have an idea to share, a resource I don’t know about yet, or any questions you have relating to any of these spotlights.
Ada Academy
Last week we reviewed the non-profit, Girls Who Code. This amazing organization focuses primarily on educating girls before and during college.
I was recently given the recommendation to learn about Ada Academy and thought this would be the perfect follow-up to last week’s SOTW since it serves a similar mission but focuses on a different demographic. Named after Ada Lovelace, this organization has created a tuition-free training program to prepare women for a career in software development.
(Not So) Fun Facts
These facts obviously should garner significant attention individually, which must only exponentially increase when grouped together. My husband likes to say “Listen to the Data”. It’s understandable to live in this environment daily and become immune to the disproportionally within tech today, and examples like these help me personally draw out the criticality of the situation by providing tangible information.
- 25% of software developers are women
- 10% of that 25% are women of color
- 56% of women quit their jobs by mid-career within 10 years
- 11% of executive positions in tech are held by women
These are all impactful statistics of a story that we inside of tech are all to familiar with. Part of Ada’s mission is to work towards improving these numbers, specifically those involving minority communities.
How to Get Involved
Here’s a synopsis of the volunteer opportunities available to help with this awesome mission.
- For two hours/week and five months a year, become a private tutor to help support those working through the program on curriculum questions.
- Act as a teaching assistant 1-4 hours/week and five months to help with projects.
- Become an industry mentor to discuss culture, networking, interviews, and offer advice for 5 months, 2 hours/month.
- If you are looking for something flexible, help review applications or interview applicants as an admissions volunteer. The time frame for this opportunity is 1-3 months in either September-November or March-May.
- Participate as a mock interviewer if you have the technical background and experience interviewing technically. This is 4 hours/session during October-November or April-May.
Not able to lend your time? Act as a silent supporter and Donate! I have chosen this route during certain periods in my own life as I like to remind myself that giving can be classified as ‘time’, ‘talent’, or ‘treasure’.