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The inventive program is meant to immerse underserved teens and young adults in life-changing experiences to prepare them for life-long STEM careers.
This week Women Influence Chicago, an Illinois Technology Association (ITA) program, collaborated with Backstop Solutions, Hireology, Transunion and Vibes to produce a Lumity One Day Challenge. The participating companies provided volunteers to work with local high school students from Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center on the one-day challenge. The day-long event, sponsored and hosted by Vibes, focused on building a marketplace to connect local high school students with STEM professionals for mentoring and coaching opportunities.
Lumity organized the project. Lumity’s mission is to provide teens and young adults from underserved communities with transformational experiences to prepare them for lifelong STEM careers. The organization differentiates itself from other STEM programs by taking a four-year approach through students’ high school years to provide them with real-world projects, STEM talks and career site visits.
“Growing diversity and ensuring opportunity for all members of the community remains a primary driver of ITA’s Women Influence Chicago venture,” said Julia Kanouse, CEO at ITA. “Moreover, it’s essential that we bring the community together with a cross-organizational approach to these critical STEM initiatives. There’s genuine power in numbers, and WIC’s involvement with Lumity showcases the type of multi-employer approach we want to undertake with STEM and beyond.”
“Vibes is proud to sponsor the Women Influence Chicago Lumity One Day Challenge,” said Christine Schoeff, SVP Talent & Development at Vibes and Women Influence Chicago Advisory Board Member. “We share a passion with our friends at Hireology, Transunion, Backstop Solutions and many more Chicago tech companies to help young women interested in STEM reach their full potential. We are continuously inspired by these future female technologists’ creativity, resilience, and dedication.”
The challenge received further backing from the Chicago tech community with representatives from local tech companies presiding as judges over the competition, including:
• Karyn Carlton, Director Enterprise Applications, Cars.com
• Andrea Chang, Senior Director Technology Solutions, National Restaurant Association
• Glenn Eden, VP Technology Practice, Weber Shandwick
• Kimberly Greuling, Director of Engineering, Backstop Solutions
• Helen Levinson, CEO, Indigo Interactive
Women Influence Chicago operates as an umbrella organization to cultivate women leaders, connect the community and increase female leadership at growth and enterprise tech companies. Through pre-workforce and in-workforce education for both men and women, the initiative aims to catapult women into roles of influence as a member of the C-Suite, as Presidents/CEOs and into Public Advisory Board positions.
It is supported by founding partners, Gogo, Trustwave and Walker Sands, and is guided by its advisory board.
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