Community Engagement Coordinator at Electric Girls [Americorps VISTA]
Electric Girls strives to create confident, young female leaders in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) by giving them fundamental skills in electronics, audio, programming, and design, and giving them the guidance and resources to use these new skills in their own creative, self-directed projects. Electric Girls is an experiential education program that provides young women and girls (ages 9-14) with an open and motivating educational environment where they can confidently build, program, and create at the intersection of arts and technology. Classes are lead by older female role models, and involve hands-on, exploratory learning experiences. About half of a particular class or meeting is spent giving girls fundamental skills relating to electronics, programming, audio engineering, and design, and the second half of the class is spent guiding girls to use these new skills in their own creative and self-directed projects. By giving girls the skills and resources needed to engage in fun and challenging technological projects, Electric Girls captivates girls' interests in science and technology, and demystifies otherwise seemingly daunting subject matter such as programming and electrical engineering.