The Vodafone Americas Foundation today added a new initiative to empower women and girls through technology. The new focus area will provide grants and additional support to technology-driven programs to strengthen the stance of women and girls. By adding this initiative to its three original priorities — spark innovation, improve lives, and strengthen the global development sector — the Vodafone Americas Foundation will support programs designed to enable and empower women and girls through the advantages of technology.
“Our core priorities are designed to foster social change in global and local communities through connected solutions. This new initiative will provide opportunities for all women to learn sustainable skills, participate in STEM education, and thrive and excel in technology-driven leadership roles,” said Chuck Pol, Chairman, Vodafone Americas Foundation. “We will support advocacy and gender work for women in and through technology that will strengthen their stance in the sector while continuing to improve lives of all around the world.”
Encouraging Women to Gain Technology Skills
Women represent over half of college graduates in the United States, yet, make up only 30 percent of workers at large technology companies. At the same time, there is a growing need for technology skills related to STEM and cybersecurity across the industry. Women can play a vital role in helping the 70 percent2 of organizations with “capability gaps” as one of their top five challenges.
The Vodafone Americas Foundation has partnered with several organizations including Girls Who Code and TechGirlz to drive programs supporting the future generation of women in technology. The Vodafone Americas Foundation awarded a grant to Girls Who Code to help provide computer science education and exposure to 1 million young women by 2020.