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Creating Equity, Prosperity, Access and Pathways for Young, Curious Women

By Audrey Russo, President and CEO, Pittsburgh Technology Council

The last few months have been filled with historical shifts not seen in most of our lifetimes. 

With seismic changes often comes clarity and innovation that will alter the way we viewed even the simplest constructs and institutions. 

It is time for these long-needed changes. It is time for all of us who work and support companies to use our civic muscle to ensure that Pittsburgh is a place where people can build a life that is filled with opportunities.  Pittsburgh Technology Council Board Chair Jason Wolfe and I have been listening to our members and a wide range of voices from the community who expressed ideas of how we should not just focus on attracting talent/people from outside the region, but take a leadership role in cultivating and partnering to develop options across science and technology for our own people who call the Pittsburgh region their home. 

Over the next few months, we are initiating a series of actions based upon these sessions, and we are starting with a new program called LAUNCH (Learn, Aspire, Understand, Navigate, Connect, Highlight). Each of these terms can be found in every aspect of the program and every session will be aligned to the PA CEW Standards. 

LAUNCH is aimed at 10th and 11th grade girls interested in gaining career and leadership skills in the world of STEM. The sessions will be a hybrid of in-person and virtual engagements starting in November and running through December. We will offer LAUNCH in the spring/summer time frame as well moving forward.

Funded in part, through a grant from the Eden Hall Foundation, the LAUNCH program transforms the natural curiosity of high school girls into a voice of leadership in the STEM industry. 

The LAUNCH program is comprehensive, inquiry-based and provides a complete curriculum that engages in real-life situations in the STEM industry. Our mentors and leaders offer insight for young women to develop their own unique leadership style.

We are going through local organizations that directly work with under-resourced students such as Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the North Side Chamber of Commerce, Nazareth Prep, Pittsburgh Public Schools CTE and several others.

The LAUNCH process equips each participant with the confidence to pursue a successful career path in STEM.  We also integrated the Becoming Athena leadership curriculum that identifies eight principles of leadership and encourages the incorporation of these concepts into their leadership practice. 

The young women will engage with the Birkman method, which helps to narrow their professional focus within the STEM field. And participants will leave the program armed with an online, professional presence, an interactive resume and creative portfolio. 

LAUNCH heightens the young women’s awareness of post high school education through on-campus or virtual open house visits. They will have multiple pathways ahead of them and the assurance that they can be successful whatever they choose. 

Launch participants will complete inquiry-based research through meaningful interactions with professional, female mentors working in various STEM fields. The LAUNCH network of female mentors will continue to support them even after the program has ended. 

Through their engagement, our participants experience growth as leaders and exit the program prepared to create positive changes and solve problems in their chosen career path.  And upon completion of the program, participants receive $250, to see the positive and earned compensation for their hard work within the STEM industry.  

I am so passionate and excited about the far-reaching possibilities that exist within each aspect of the LAUNCH program. We are always seeking mentors and anyone looking to support this exciting new program. For more information, you can contact Marie Pelloni at mpelloni@pghtech.org.

Read the entire issue of TEQ here: