IN an attempt to empower Guyanese girls and women who are passionate about technology, ‘Girls in Tech’ (GIT) has taken its place in the Guyanese society after launching its Guyana branch on Wednesday night, at GT Motorsports.

GIT aims to accelerate the growth of innovative women entering into the high tech industry and building startups. The organisation achieves such through the creation of proprietary, innovative programming and strategic global partnership.

GIT is a global non-profit organization focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of girls and women who are passionate about technology. The organisation was founded by Adriana Gascoigne in 2007 to create a support framework to help women advance their careers in the STEM fields.

GIT relies on volunteer efforts to lead chapters like Guyana. The Guyana Chapter is led by Evie Kanhai-Gurchuran who is the Managing Director.
Along with the Board of Directors, Evie hopes to not only gain support, but also explore possible collaborations and partnerships to secure the mission and success of programmes in Guyana.

During her remarks, Kanhai-Gurchuran stated that there were 11 positions open on the organisation’s Advisory Board and she encouraged persons who are interested in technology to join the team in attempt to make a difference within society.

She added that the organisation is not just for professional women, but for anyone with an interest in technology, startups and providing women with a platform for growth.
Giving the keynote address at the event was Cybersecurity Manager at National Data Management Authority, Muriana McPherson, who encouraged the attendees to be passionate, embrace change and to share their knowledge.

“Anything worth accomplishing in life takes a lot of hard work so be passionate about what you do, always be willing to embrace change, the field is dynamic and there is always going to be something new, and finally, pass on your knowledge, as you begin to help others to develop, you yourself will become developed,” McPherson stated.

In a presentation, member of the Board of Directors, who is also Head of Department for the Computer Science Department at the University of Guyana, Penelope DeFreitas, talked about programmes the organisation offers for its members.

She noted that GIT offers programmes such as the following: ‘catalyst conference’ which offers attendees authentic networking opportunities and a platform to exchange ideas and connect with other inspiring women; ‘boot camps’ pertaining to technology, entrepreneurship, coding, design and professional skills and ‘global classroom’ which is an online learning platform designed to educate, empower and engage girls and women around the world.

DeFreitas also noted that the organisation also offers programmes such as ‘Hacking for humanity’ which is a hack-a-thon where developers, designers, students, and educators gather to collaborate on projects including applications, data visualization and platforms solutions.

She added that ‘Amplify’ is another programme that GIT bargains, “which is a must-attended startup competition for entrepreneurs, investors, engineers, and designers that explores up and coming trends in innovation, technology.”
In addition, DeFreitas indicated that as of January 2019, GIT programmes have impacted a total of 230,000 women across the globe.
Persons interested in the organisation can visit its website, ‘guyana.girlsintech.org’.