Congressional App Challenge Announces Partnership with coderGirls
Washington, D.C. – Today, the 2017 Congressional App Challenge (CAC) announced its partnership with coderGirls, an international nonprofit seeking to educate and empower female students in technology. Based in Gainesville, Florida, the coderGirls platform has reached numerous states in the US and beyond through the implementation of chapters, global competitions, mentorship programs, and creative curriculum focused on connecting computer science to the passions of each individual.
The Congressional App Challenge is proud to partner with an organization focused on enabling women and girls. The Congressional App Challenge shares coderGirls’ commitment to making computer science accessible to everyone.”
– Rachel Décoste, Director, Congressional App Challenge
The new partnership with the Congressional App Challenge will not only boost female participation, but it will also allow more girls to see the applications of computer science through app development. The partnership is an amazing start to making the future of tech more inclusive of all.”
– Briana Berger, Founder, coderGirls
Briana Berger, the founder of coderGirls, is a Senior at F.W. Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Florida, planning to study computer science. Her passion for code and problem solving led her to found coderGirls to empower, impact, and educate girls with an interest in coding.
Together, the Congressional App Challenge and coderGirls aim to increase the number of female Congressional App Challenge participants and empower female coders by reaching out to students who love to code in Florida and the rest of the United States. Currently, the state of Florida has 15 Members of Congress participating in the 2017 Congressional App Challenge, which is more than 50% Congressional participation. This number has greatly increased from only 9 members in 2015. Through this partnership, our goal is to eventually get to 100% Congressional participation and increased student involvement in Florida.
Nationwide, over 215+ Members of Congress are hosting district-wide App Challenges this year. Students in high school or below have until November 1, 2017 to submit an app on CongressionalAppChallenge.us.
About the Congressional App Challenge
The CAC is a congressional initiative, managed by the Internet Education Foundation [IEF], a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. In the first 2 years of the program yielded 239 challenges across 33 states. Over 1,150 apps have been created by nearly 4,000 students, and participant demographics surpassed all industry diversity metrics, with young women representing 30% of all competitors.
For more information contact:
Congressional App Challenge
www.CongressionalAppChallenge.us
coderGirls