ChickTech: For Students

ChickTech provides opportunities and a supportive community to students of marginalized genders (including non-binary, gender non-confirming, and female-identifying 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 non-binary youth is critical, both to the industry and to their lives. Our future is being shaped by technology every day, and we deserve an equal say. Our programs provide a supportive and welcoming environment for students 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.

Current ChickTech Youth 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. In 2020, ChickTech: High School went online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are excited to continue offering online workshops and mentorship for students and look forward to resuming in-person events when it is safe to do so.

We’ve found that too many high school girls and non-binary youth 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 of marginalized genders with untapped tech potential and providing them with workshops, mentoring, and other opportunities to get more engaged with the tech industry.

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Past ChickTech Youth Programs

ChickTech: College

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

ChickTech: College is a program designed to connect women and non-binary people 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 our young professionals’ abilities to be successful in a technology career.

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ChickTech: Rural

35% of rural Americans have no access to broadband, compared to 3% in urban areas. 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 marginalized genders—regardless of where they live—deserve a chance to experience the excitement of creating a robot, website, or 3D printed item! ChickTech’s rural initiatives provide students and teachers in rural locations like Central Oregon with national community support, resources and materials, and a network of partnerships to help students and adults excel in and out of the classroom on their path to a technology career.

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Caption. Photo by Jane Doe.