Laptops for Girls in Tech

UPDATE: THANK YOU to all of the supporters who helped us to meet this goal! Your generous donations are now part of the storyline of this program. The Shuri Project will be its best because of your kindness and support. On behalf of the Henry Williams Love Foundation, we appreciate you showing us love in our time of need.

There was a bonus ask in this campaign; for every $500 we raised over the goal we can take 1 girl off of the waitlist and officially add her to the program. Currently, our total raised is $5,777, so we will be adding 1 more girl to the program! Any additional donations received will continue to support us adding more girls to the program. We have 61 girls on the waitlist, and this particular program site has the capacity for 9 more girls. 

MY STORY:

My name is Kyla Williams and I am a Black woman in tech. My story is an uncommon one, but I am included in the 3% of Black women working in the technology field, and serves as proof that more stories like mine are possible. And I am on a mission to make this happen. I am deeply passionate about empowering more young girls to explore tech as a career option. Why? Because they can.


I have been working with non-profits and community organizations all my life with a specific focus on youth development. After running a highly successful technology mentoring program for youth during my time at Smart Chicago, I am now launching The Shuri Project, a 6-week summer technology mentoring program for girls ages 8-12 with the goals of keeping them safe while building self-esteem and increasing their tech aptitude. We have 20 girls registered, three instructors trained and ready, a local food vendor that will provide breakfast and lunch, 12 Women in STEM speakers, and the learning facility ready to go. 

Chicago is a tough place for some kids depending on their street address, and even more tough during the summer months or after school. Sadly, school breakfast and lunches are the only meals many of our students have consistently. The Shuri Project will serve as a safe haven, a dining table, and a learning station for our girls. We have over 60 girls on our waiting list for this summer program, which demonstrates interest and need. As such, we will be offering The Shuri Project as an after-school program model in the fall. 


Why Shuri?

The Shuri Project is inspired by Shuri from the movie Black Panther. To see a young Black woman on the screen like Shuri engineering tools and using technology as a weapon of choice is important and can be inspiring. For some little girls, it might even be life-changing. When we look at Shuri, we can only ask ourselves how many more Shuri’s exist who have untapped potential that can be used in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields where women of color are underrepresented. That is why The Shuri Project is so important.



We hope our program helps to usher women into the tech education pipeline and further into the career pipeline. In the movie, Shuri has the skills and innovative understanding of the power of technology. The Shuri Project is designed to not only improve skill levels, but to plant seeds in households to discover the many career paths that touch tech and improve quality of life opportunities. There is an old saying, “the people perish for the lack of knowledge,” and The Shuri Project in its design and focus will increase knowledge.

This project has three major goals:

• To improve communication and interpersonal skills
• To improve general and digital literacy and increase technical aptitude
• To increase workforce development skills and exposure to tech careers

At the end of the six-week program, all youth participants:

• Complete typing club
• Build their own website and publicly presents them to an audience
• Create a resume, cover letter, and participate in a mock job interview
• Present an educational workshop at Wakandacon on August 4th, 2018

Youth that complete The Shuri Project receive 140 hours of participatory instructional time, 30 hours of nutrition time, 20 hours of recreation, 15 hours in tech career workshops, and 10 hours in arts. Additionally, students who successfully complete the program are awarded certificates of completion at a community-based graduation held in their honor and are provided with an earned learning incentive of keeping the laptop used during their learning time.

THE ASK: Laptops for our girls

Your generous donation will help The Shuri Project provide a laptop for each girl to use and take home with them after the program. For most of our girls, this will be the first time they will ever own a technological gadget. 

This gift will be an incredibly powerful and life-changing one as it will provide our girls with access to all the tools they need to unleash their potential. Every little donation will make a difference. Please help me make this a reality for our future Shuris.

THE BONUS: More girls in program

For every $500 we raise over the goal, 1 more girl can come off the waitlist and join the program this summer.