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SAN FRANCISCO, October 27, 2022 - Throughout the month of October, Amazon Web Services (AWS) brought together more than 1,800 students from the Hayward Unified School District (HUSD) for a series of AWS Girls’ Tech Day events in an effort to inspire and motivate female and female identifying students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM). The Girls’ Tech Day series kicked off on October 5 with an event for 650 middle schoolers, followed by multiple elementary school events from October 11-21 reaching another 800 students, and wrapped up with an event with 400 high school students at the AWS Startup Lofts in downtown San Francisco on October 26th and 27th.

AWS Girls’ Tech Day is a free learning experience that focuses on each of the STEAM areas with activities designed to educate, inspire, and be enjoyed by female and female identifying youth. The program also showcased a wide range of STEAM careers and introduced participants to female tech trailblazers who shared their professional journeys.

“AWS InCommunities has made it a priority to support a variety of initiatives to help create the next generation of creative thinkers and future builders in the communities we call home,” said Cornelia Robinson, global lead of inclusion and outreach for AWS. “Women represent a quarter or less of workers in computing and engineering and we want to do our part to inspire and support these students. We must continue developing and encouraging girls and young women to see the opportunities in tech.”

Throughout the series of events, girls excitedly participated in interactive workshops that included learning about facial detection and building face filters with AWS’ Pitcoblox.AI, building a hydraulic lifting claw, an activity that teaches the basics of engineering and physics, as well as learning how to construct and program a simple motor-powered robot. At the high school event, students took professional headshots and fueled their imaginations through the creation of career vision boards. Throughout the series of events, students were able to hear directly from women in STEAM and learned about their career journeys. Speakers included Shannon Axelrod, software data engineer from Netflix, Leticia Ambriz, the head of product engineering at Ring Operations, Itzel Diaz, data center engineer at AWS Data Centers, Frances Baldwin, senior operations manager at AWS Data Centers, and Carol Tang, paleontologist and the executive director at the Children’s Creativity Museum. The panel was moderated by Gloria Rodriguez, a general assignment news reporter for ABC7 News in San Francisco.

These events were possible thanks to the collaboration with HUSD, who is committed to increasing STEAM education for its students. HUSD’s priority is to provide ALL students with equitable access to district programs, support services, and other opportunities for success. They serve all students, embracing the rich diversity in its district, particularly those who have been underserved. This priority is also reflected in district policy and its management philosophy to promote equity and inclusion in the district.

“HUSD was excited to host the AWS Girls’ Tech Day program this year. Through this program, our female and female identifying students felt inspired and supported to explore and pursue their interests in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM),” said Veronica Ortiz, College and Career Coordinator for Hayward Unified School District. “The activities were engaging, fostered curiosity, and brought joy to our students. The speakers were inspirational and they shared their dynamic educational and career stories to motivate our students to follow their STEAM dreams. We look forward to continuing our partnership with AWS and expanding Girls’ Tech Day in HUSD.”

The high school event was held in the AWS Startups Loft in San Francisco, a program that offers startups physical and virtual spaces where founders and developers interested in AWS can connect and attend a wide variety of activities, including business and technical sessions, workshops, and roundtables, with no cost to them. It’s also a place to receive free AWS technical and business guidance from AWS experts. To access the AWS Startup Lofts benefits, startup teams simply need to sign up to become a member. Then, they can reserve a spot at any of the available activities or events on a first come, first served basis.

About AWS Girls Tech Day

Girls’ Tech Day was launched in 2018, and since then, it has hosted in-person and virtual events in cities across the globe, reaching nearly 7,000 girls and young women aged 8-24, to inspire and motivate them to develop and pursue interests and careers in technology. AWS Girls’ Tech Day is part of a collection of activities AWS is spearheading to support STEAM education in the San Francisco Bay Area, and more events will be scheduled for 2023. For more information about Girls Tech Day and to see if events will be scheduled near you, visit http://awsgirlstechday.com