ChickTech: For Students

ChickTech provides opportunities and a supportive community to young womxn (including non-binary, gender non-confirming, female-identifying, and transgender students) in order to broaden participation in tech and provide equitable opportunities to all.

ChickTech believes that providing access to technology career opportunities to girls and young womxn is critical, both to the industry and to their lives. Our future is being shaped by technology every day, and girls and womxn deserve an equal say. From summer camps to our year-long high school program to our new college program, our programs provide a supportive and welcoming environment for girls and womxn to learn, create, and do while surrounded by mentors and friends.

Portland 2015 High School Kickoff. Photo by Wojtek Rajski.

Seattle 2016 High School Kickoff. Photo by Wojtek Rajski.

Portland 2013 High School Kickoff. Photo by Todd Kulesza.

Corvallis 2013 High School Kickoff. Photo by Todd Kulesza.

Portland 2014 High School Kickoff. Photo by Wojtek Rajski.

Portland 2013 High School Kickoff. Photo by Todd Kulesza.

Student Programs

ChickTech: High School

ChickTech: High School is a year-long series of opportunities for a cohort of 100 high school students in each city, including mentoring and hands-on workshops.

We’ve found that too many high school girls and young womxn have never been provided with the opportunity to create technology projects…and that given the chance, what they create is amazing! ChickTech: High School broadens the tech pipeline by finding high school students with untapped tech potential and providing them with workshops, mentoring, and other opportunities to get more engaged with the tech industry.

Learn More!

ChickTech: Rural

35% of rural Americans have no access to broadband, compared to 3% in urban areas.[1] This digital divide not only affects the ability of rural Americans to use technology – it also affects their ability to create it.

We believe students of all marginalized genders (female-identifying, transgender, non-binary, and gender-non conforming youth) deserve a chance to experience the excitement of creating a robot, website, or 3D printed item! Through workshops, After-School Clubs, and School Kits, ChickTech’s rural initiatives provide students and teachers from across the country with national community support, resources and materials, and a network of partnerships to help young womxn excel in and out of the classroom on their path to a technology career.

[1] The digital divide between rural and urban America’s access to internet, CBS News, 4 Aug., 2017

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ChickTech: College

Womxn earn only 18% of undergraduate computer and information sciences degrees.[2] Because of this, womxn in computing fields often feel isolated, inferior, and like they don’t belong.

ChickTech: College is a program designed to connect womxn in STEM majors at colleges and universities across the globe with informal peer and industry mentorships, community connection, and give-back opportunities. Our goal is that this program will increase community and womxn’s ability to be successful in a technology career.

Interested in starting a ChickTech: College chapter? Apply today!

[2] Girls in IT: The Facts Infographic, National Center for Women & Information Technology.

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Robotics Boot Camps

In partnership with Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Program (ORTOP), ChickTech will create and run a week-long robotics boot camp to increase the number of young womxn participating in FIRST Robotics in middle school and high school.

34% of participants in FIRST Robotics programs are female, this camp will increase participants’ confidence in their abilities and provide them with a city-wide community of female peers as they enter FIRST programs in the 2018/2019 school year.

Portland Middle School Summer Camp

Each summer, Portland OR volunteers run a weeklong summer camp to engage female-identifying and gender non-confirming middle school students with technology.

With projects ranging from 3D printing to Javascript to Arduinos, our middle school summer camp is fun, affordable, and empowering. Interested in learning more, getting involved, or signing up your daughter? Please contact Kerstin Motsch-Reiter at [email protected].

Caption. Photo by Jane Doe.