Nomimations open for middle school through Feb. 12
(LAS VEGAS) NCWIT (National Center for Women & Information Technology) announced the 2020 NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing (AiC) national recipients, including seven students in Southern Nevada with one National Winner, and six National Honorable Mentions. The Techie, Aspirations, and Inspirations awards presented by the Las Vegas affiliate of NCWIT will honor these women and girls at Zappos on April 25.
The National Winner from Southern Nevada is Troy Womack of Henderson, Nevada, who attends Odyssey Charter High School. The six National Honorable Mentions include Caitlyn Coloma (Ed W Clark High School), Miriam Medrano (Advanced Technologies Academy), Sheyla Ramirez (Southeast Career Technical Academy), Karen Rizo (Valley High School), Ruijia Zhang (Ed W Clark High School) and Michelle Zhao (West Career & Technical Academy).
U.S. high school students attending grades 9 through 12 self-identified as women, genderqueer, or non-binary are eligible to be nominated. The awards honor those students for their aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing. These awards demonstrate excellence in computing-related activities, computing experience, leadership experience, and tenacity along with goalrs to obtain a post-secondary education. This year, 40 winners and 360 honorable mentions were selected from over 4,700 young women from 48 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, and U.S. overseas military bases.
Through the support of its national sponsor, Bank of America, each national award winner will receive financial and other prizes as well as a trip to Bank of America headquarters on March 6-8.
Applications and nominations for middle school students for the Inspirations Awards will close on Feb 12 and students can self-nominate. The Las Vegas affiliate of NCWIT is the first affiliate to offer this pilot program in its second year to encourage and recognize middle school students, specifically 8th-grade female students. For more information and to nominate a student, visit bit.ly/2020-inspirations-award.
The regional affiliate awards will honor 21 winners, 27 honorable mentions, and 22 rising stars. The award will also honor one educator winner and one educator honorable mention. The awards demonstrate that with encouragement and support, Nevada can develop a diverse talent pool to help bridge the workforce needs in STEM and Technology industries.
The Las Vegas Techie Awards honors influential professionals and organizations, combining diversity and action along with meaningful dialogue. Nominations for the Las Vegas Techie awards are open until March 21 for categories including Tech Innovator/Start-Up, Best Place to Work, The Catalyst, Bleeding Edge, Champion, and Techie of the Year at lvtechieawards.com/nominate-now.
Join the Southern Nevada technology community for the Techie, Aspirations, and Inspirations awards at Zappos, 400 E. Stewart Avenue, on April 25. Visit ncwit-awards.eventbrite.com to purchase tickets and For more information, visit lvtechieawards.com.
ABOUT NCWIT (NATIONAL CENTER FOR WOMEN AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)
The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) is a nonprofit community of more than 1,100 education organizations, companies, nonprofits, and government partners nationwide working to increase girls’ and women’s meaningful participation in STEM and Technology career fields. NCWIT equips change leaders with resources for taking action in recruiting, retaining, and advancing women from K–12 and higher education through industry and entrepreneurial careers. The Las Vegas affiliate of NCWIT was established in 2016 with the Clark County School District as the K-12 Alliance member. Recently, the College of Southern Nevada has joined as the Academic Alliance member. For more information on how to get involved, contact Snehal Bhakta, NCWIT Affiliate Coordinator, at ncwit.vegas@gmail.com. For more information, visit www.ncwit.org.
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