TechGirls Program Closing Remarks

Hello, everybody. Congratulations on completing the TechGirls program!

Over the last month, you’ve honed your leadership skills, you gained experience in critical industries like computer programming and electrical engineering. You’ve traveled to innovation hubs around the country, learning from top professionals in telecommunications, mobile finance, aerospace, and beyond. And through it all — I’m convinced you’ve made lifelong friends.

This program is possible because of the support of partners at Legacy International, Global Ties U.S., the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and Virginia Tech. A special thank you, too, to our Local Engagement Coordinators — many of them alumni of TechGirls themselves — for serving as mentors.

Today, you join a network of more than 500 TechGirls around the world. Many of those alumni are now studying in STEM fields at top universities. Others are driving innovation in the private sector. And nearly all are taking the skills — and the experience — that they gained through TechGirls to tackle the most important challenges we face, from climate change, to food insecurity, to maximizing the positive potential of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

Today may be the end of this stage of your TechGirls journey — but it’s the beginning of another. Soon, you’ll have access to direct mentorship from TechGirls alumni in your country, as well as virtual mentorship fromTechGirls staff worldwide. You’ll be invited to virtual receptions with the peers and mentors that you’ve met on this program, and in-person events at U.S. embassies with alumni of other professional and academic programs hosted by the State Department.

We encourage you to continue your partnership with the State Department. That includes by applying to initiatives like TechWomen, which pairs young women in STEM with American mentors in the private sector.

The United States launched TechGirls just over a decade ago to support young women like you. Too often, in too many places, women and girls are denied opportunities to enter the STEM field because of gender bias, a lack of mentorship, wage gaps, and more. Barriers that are even higher for women from traditionally marginalized communities, including women from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds and LGBTQI+ women. We’re running — and we’re growing —TechGirls and similar programs because we know that when women are empowered to contribute their full talents and potential — our communities, countries, the world are better off, and better equipped to solve the greatest challenges of our time. Put simply: We believe in you. And we’re committed to supporting you throughout your journey in STEM.

Thank you for participating in this year’s TechGirls. I can’t wait to see the good work that you’re going to do in the years ahead.