GLAM Empowers 60 Girls in Partnership With Cisco to Help Bridge the Gender Gap in Tech

CAMPBELL, Calif., Aug. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Girls Leadership Academy Meetup (GLAM) announced today the success of the two-day immersive event held at Cisco's San Jose campus in June. 

The Silicon Valley-based nonprofit hosted over 60 girls aged 8-12, including 25% from local underserved communities. The program delivered interactive activities that taught the girls about business acumen, leadership skills, and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math), fields that are traditionally plagued with a gender gap.

The premiere sponsors for this GLAM event were Cisco and iTalent Digital. Additional sponsorship was provided by National Mentoring Day, Heavenly Designs, Black Lamb Media, Tooli-Art, and JP Graphics. 

Significantly, more than 80% of the attendees reported having little to no computer coding experience before this GLAM program. After the event, over 70% said they planned to continue coding.

Event host

• Stephanie Luna-Lopez, Operations Specialist at GLAM

Plenary and break-out session leaders

• Apoorva Panidapu, Apoorva Panidapu's Art Gallery
• Ashwini Vasudeva, ASTUTE
• Carolyn Herzog, Elastic
• Chelsey Baker, National Mentoring Day
• Christelle Mombo-Zigah, Cisco
• Christina van Fosson, Cisco
• Dorian Webb, Dorian Webb
• Leslie McKnew, Cisco
• Maitri Chattopadhyay, Disney Streaming
• Megan Bazan, Cisco
• Renée La Londe, iTalent Digital
• Sara Morales, Cisco

The girls were divided into nine teams and presented business pitches on stage to a professional panel of judges and an adult audience for their final project. The business pitch judges and facilitators for this event were:

• Dorian Webb, Dorian Webb
• Emma Polster, Cisco
• Jane Adams, CoachVille
• Karen Clarkson, Ricoh USA
• Meghan Donohoe, Cisco
• Renée La Londe, iTalent Digital
• Tina Yang Chin, Cisco
• Tracy Adams, Greetr
• Uma Achutha, GLAM advisor

The first-, second-, and third-place teams received trophies for their business pitches, while the other six teams got honorable-mention medals. In addition, one attendee earned the Chelsey Award trophy for demonstrating the most growth and courage in public speaking.

Meghan Donohoe, Women of Cisco liaison and Security Development Engineer at Cisco, said, "I am once again amazed by the GLAM staff and Cisco volunteers. This event takes so many to put together, and it was executed beautifully. I love getting to see the girls so engaged every day. Watching their transformation from being shy and nervous the first day into confident presenters in front of everyone on stage for their business pitches is the best part. I can't wait to do it again!"

The award-winning GLAM curriculum teaches both hard and soft skills that have been identified as necessary for helping to reduce gender bias, bridge the gender gap, and build self-confidence to pursue STEM careers, senior leadership, and entrepreneurship. The immersive program is always offered free of charge so girls from all socioeconomic backgrounds and diverse cultural communities can participate.

GLAM's STEAM education and leadership program explores basic computer coding skills, encourages creativity and goal setting through vision boarding, provides leadership and teamwork experiences through business planning, and provides professional mentoring and training in public speaking and business pitching. Inspirational female role models and women leaders serve as volunteers and presenters.

About GLAM
Girls Leadership Academy Meetup (GLAM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 2016 by iTalent Digital CEO and Founder, Renée La Londe from a desire to give equitable opportunities to girls and young women from all socioeconomic circumstances worldwide. More than 1,200 girls and 60 mentors from 23 countries have been empowered through GLAM's in-person and online events.

To engage with GLAM, explore our website, watch GLAMtv, read our blog posts, sponsor or donate to future events, follow @GLAMReadyToLead on social media, or email [email protected].

Media Contact:
Michele Foster
[email protected]
408-496-6200

SOURCE Girls Leadership Academy Meetup (GLAM)