TECHNOVATION CHALLENGE

Code Savvy is helping bring the Technovation Challenge to Minnesota.   We're recruiting girls, teachers, mentors, volunteers and donors to support 12 teams.  Come get involved in this great program!
 

The Technovation Challenge engages small teams of high school or middle school girls to dream up, design, code and pitch mobile phone apps.   Working with professional women mentors (usually after school), all-girl teams develop a real-world combination of technical and entrepreneurial skills:

• how to identify a problem, research and design a useful app
• how to code a working app from scratch
• how to develop a business plan and make a presentation to a panel of venture capitalists and other audiences
• confidence,  collaboration, patience, focus and creative problem-solving  

Technovation Challenge provides a life-changing experience to girls – an experience through which they succeed in a field they never thought they could contribute to, let alone succeed.

 For the 2013 challenge, girls have to develop an app that solves a problem in their local community. This could be a health problem that affects their community, a social problem, or even a lack of a resource.  The teams identify and research a problem, design, code and test an app, then develop and present a business plan for funding and marketing the app.  The winning team receives $10,000 in funding and support to complete their app development and release it on the market.

The Technovation Challenge was created in 2010 by Iridescent, a nonprofit organization focusing on STEM education for under-served populations, and it now reaches nearly 1000 girls world-wide.  The program is free for participants. 
  

The Technovation Challenge aims to show girls that computer science is a fun, creative, collaborative process and to equip girls to become truly technologically literate.    Check out these videos:

• This 13 minute mini-documentary follows one team as they come up with the idea for “Froggy Cut”, hone it into a working app, and present it in the local and national Technovation finals.
• The 5 minute welcome video describes basics about the Technovation Challenge, how it works and how you can get involved.  
• Here's a one minute Public Service Announcement about the program, called "I will inspire."

Code Savvy is serving as a regional coordinator for the Technovation Challenge in Minnesota and is recruiting mentors, volunteers, and teachers this spring, in preparation for forming teams during the 2013-14 season.  Our goal is to recruit enough mentors, teachers and girls for 12+ teams (up to 5 girls per team) that will enter the Technovation challenge in January through April 2014.  

In collaboration with local partners and volunteers, Code Savvy will

• Host several "Hack Days" (App Inventor training days) during fall 2013 to show girls and teachers how accessible and fun it can be to code phone apps.  
• Organize tours for young women of technical workplaces,
• Provide ongoing technical and logistic support for Technovation teams
• Facilitate mentor meet-up events, and discussions amount the sites
• Raise funds locally to provide modest material support for Technovation teams
• Hold a local “Pitch Day” event for the teams to present their apps
• Assist the regional winning team to travel to the Technovation World Pitch competition in the San Francisco Bay Area (May 2014)

The Technovation organization has created a fine curriculum and a network of support -- for the all-girl teams, and also for the teachers and mentors.  

• Hack Day (App Inventor Training)
  Hack Day tutorials provide training using App Inventor for Android that can be completed on-line or at a one-day, in-person event.  

• 12-week Challenge Course for Technovation Teams  [draft version]
  provides step-by-step tutorials on how to program an app, create a business plan, and deliver a pitch. 

• Mentor and Teacher Training course
  This optional professional development course pools resources on topics such as building your personal brand, running a team, and managing projects.

Interested?  Excited? Get involved!  We’re looking for:

• §  Mentors (technical or entrepreneurial women) to volunteer as professional role models to inspire and encourage teams.  Online training and support provided.
• §  Teachers -- who can encourge and support the girls, and host the after-school sessions from January to April 2014.  Need not be technical.  Female or male teachers are welcomed.  Training provided,  and we hope to raise money for a small stipend for teachers who host 2 or more teams.
• §  High school girls -- teams of up to 5 girls.  While the challenge is designed for high school girls, teams of middle school girls are welcome and have successfully competed in past challenges.
• §  Technical professionals (male or female) to help with "Hack Day" training for girls and for teachers and mentors, and a "Pitch Day" event for team presentations.
• §  Donors -- to support the development of Technovation teams in Minnesota

Technovation Challenge is thinking big:

“We are starting a movement — a movement of women creating and inventing disruptive innovations and technological solutions.  We want the girls to see the powerful role technology can play in solving world problems.”

Code Savvy is proud and excited to bring the Technovation Challenge to Minnesota.
  

Please send an e-mail to Rebecca@CodeSavvy to get involved locally!