WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Trust for the Americas has selected GSMA as a winner of the 2018 Corporate Citizen of the Americas Award in the category ‘Technical Skills for the Future of Work’ for its program ‘Tech4Girls’. The award was presented by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, at a ceremony held last week in Washington, D.C. Ana Tavares Lattibeaudiere, Head of North America, and Paula Ferrari, Regional Marketing Director for Latin America, received the award on behalf of the GSMA.
Tech4Girls is part of the global GSMA’s Women4Tech programme, which focuses on reducing the persistent gender gap in the mobile industry. Women4Tech offers different touchpoints for women across their education and career journeys through dedicated initiatives, development and networking opportunities. Women4Tech supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG 5: “Gender Equality.”
Launched in March 2018 by GSMA North America, Tech4Girls delivers hands-on educational workshops for young girls, designed to increase their self-confidence and interest in technology, encouraging them to pursue education and careers in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and design, and mathematics).
The initiative was rolled out in GSMA Latin America’s office in Buenos Aires on 4 October, complementing the Women 20 (W20) International Summit held that week in the city. Throughout the year, the GSMA had served as Topic Chair for Digital Inclusion within the W20, the official engagement group of the G20 focused on gender equality. Boosting women’s participation in STEAM studies and industries had been signalled as a prominent recommendation in the group’s Final Communiqué submitted to G20 Heads of State.
Tech4Girls participants acquire skills that prepare them for careers in STEAM, such as developing an artificial intelligence device, like a Google Home, creating a computer using a Kano Kit and, in the Buenos Aires workshop, coding a mobile app for the first time. The Latin American session also brought together women leaders in the public and NGO sectors to share their own experiences in the ICT industry as a way of inspiring the girls to explore the multiple possibilities of a career in tech. This multi-stakeholder approach was key to increase visibility and extend impact beyond the girls taking part in the workshop.
"We, The Trust for the Americas, recognize these initiatives as part of the efforts that advance our vision of economic empowerment of women and girls to promote development in the region. Tech4Girls has great potential for replicability and demonstrates the power of public-private partnerships to generate new opportunities," said Linda Eddleman, Executive Director of The Trust for the Americas.
“We are proud and grateful for this recognition, but we know it’s just the cornerstone of what is to come,” said Paula Ferrari, Regional Marketing Director for Latin America, GSMA, at the award ceremony. “Our objective is to scale Tech4Girls at a regional level, fostering girls’ development through appropriate training, networking and mentoring all across Latin America.”
“We are very committed to this effort as women only hold less than 20 percent of all roles across the technology sector,” said Ana Tavares Lattibeaudiere, Head of North America, GSMA. “The expansion of the Tech4Girls initiative into Latin America plays an important role in boosting female representation in STEAM studies by providing girls with confidence in their abilities and changing the gender and career narrative.”
The next Tech4Girls event is scheduled for Saturday, December 15 in Atlanta. For more on Tech4Girls, visit: https://www.gsma.com/tech4girls/.
About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile
operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators with over 350
companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device
makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies,
as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also
produces the industry-leading MWC events held annually in Barcelona, Los
Angeles and Shanghai, as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional
conferences.
For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.
GSMA Latin America represents the mobile industry in the region. For more information in English, Spanish and Portuguese, please visit www.gsmala.com. Follow GSMA Latin America on Twitter @GSMALatam and LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/showcase/gsmalatam.
