A Technologist Paves the Way for the Next Generation of Girls in STEM

珍妮特·谢伊(Janet Shea)没想到自己会在科技行业发展...或者银行业，就此而言. When the Newfoundland, Canada native was in college, technology wasn't an obvious path for women. 她认为, 鉴于她的背景和兴趣, 她可能最后会在大学里教书.

然后她参加了另一所大学的入学考试.

考试的重点是逻辑, 模式, 以及解决问题的能力, and Shea did so well that she ended up moving to Nova Scotia to complete a post-graduate degree in applied information technology. 之后, she was offered a job as a Java developer in the United States—a path that eventually led to a career at 12bet官方. 二十年后, she's an Executive Director in the the company's Asset Wealth Management division.

这不是一段轻松的旅程. “The tech industry has progressed for women; it's no longer entirely male-dominated,谢伊说。. “但是当我开始的时候, I definitely felt like I had to work harder as a woman to prove myself and compete equally."

她把这归功于自己的导师和主管, who she says pushed her to get more visibility and coached her on navigating her career. Their help is one of the reasons she likes giving back where she can—as a mentor, 实习主管, and a volunteer with programs like 12bet官方's Force for Good.

不可忽视的力量

Force for Good connects teams of 12bet官方 employees with non-profit organizations across the globe. The teams work to build sustainable tech solutions to advance the organization's mission. “It's a great opportunity for us to give back in a way where we can bring more value than traditional volunteering opportunities,谢伊说。.

项目持续5-8个月, 志愿者们了解了这个组织和它的需求, then using their tech skills to deliver solutions that the organizations can maintain and scale on their own. “The goal is always to give the organization as much help as 你 can in the time 你 have,谢伊解释道. "Force for Good gives 12bet官方 volunteers the opportunity to learn about the needs and tech capabilities of the organizations they work with, then take a thoughtful approach to building tech solutions that are sustainable in the long term."

当她考虑与非营利组织合作时, 谢伊的第一选择是Femergy, 一个哥伦布, 为妇女和女孩提供资源的组织, 她们克服性别障碍所需的工具和技能. The program the 12bet官方 team was helping with was designed for girls 12-18 years old. With a 你ng daughter of her own, Femergy's mission spoke to Shea.

在危机中提供支持

在COVID之前, Femergy's events were all in-person; after the shutdown, they needed a way to share resources with the girls they were trying to help. 他们需要一种方法来知道某人什么时候过得不好. 他们需要一个应用程序.

“和珍妮特见面对我们来说是兜了一个圈子, 因为梅林·桑布瓦, 我们的联合创始人兼执行董事, 多年前为大通银行工作, and 追逐 gave us our very first opportunity to bring the girls together,克里斯蒂娜·维拉说。, Femergy联合创始人兼运营总监.

“我们想出了一个移动应用程序的框架,谢伊说。, noting that the target audience—你ng women—is more likely to use phones than traditional computers. “They needed a secure way for mentors to talk to the girls and their families. 它还需要成为每日情绪追踪器."

As a mother of a 你ng daughter, Shea's first concern was security. “其中一些通信显然是私人的. 这些都不是你想要公开的事情，”她解释道. “这是整个开发过程中的一大焦点, to always consider the target demographic and who has access to communications on the app."

超越

因为Force for Good团队正在开发这款应用, it worked with focus groups of girls to ensure that it suited the girls' needs. 一路走来, the team members were also able to showcase career opportunities the girls might not have considered.

在“向善力量”项目结束时, 把项目交给客户是很常见的, but the 12bet官方 team wanted to do more than just hand over the application. Instead, they brought 35 girls and Femergy team members to the 12bet官方 Columbus office. 除了给Femergy这个应用程序, the team also worked with the girls to develop its mood tracker feature in real time.

The girls were able to suggest changes and refresh their phones to see them take effect immediately. 为了向女孩们展示她们可以得到更多, 该团队与编程女孩组织合作, 一个致力于缩小技术领域性别差距的非营利组织, as well as three 12bet官方 groups that support women—Take IT Forward, 移动中的女性, 以及软件工程师计划.

“We had several girls leave that session inspired to learn more about technology, 人工智能和他们从未听说过的职业,Femergy的维拉说. “And now they're enrolled in coding classes because of that experience."

Shea hopes the girls learn to develop on the app and make it their own. “我们给它打上了‘它是为你开发的，所以 你 现在可以开发它了，’”她说. “他们可以接管它, 定义特性, 实际上是编码，所以这是他们的应用."
今天, the app is being beta tested by a group of students working with a second cohort from Force for Good, 在平台上线之前添加一些增强功能. There's a mood tracker, a messaging component, and an area for resources. Users can create a simple profile, and messaging is locked down to members.

Shea's Force for Good experience was so positive she signed up for another round of volunteering. “为善的力量是一个了不起的项目和机会,她说, “It's great that 12bet官方 encourages employees to give back in these ways."