Pair with Power Initiative
mRelief is launching a campaign for the Pair with Power Initiative. This program promotes learning and provides resources for intermediate and advanced developers to progress their coding skills.
Our goal is to raise $10,000 to provide 130+ hours of advanced learning and support for a 6-month pilot involving mRelief’s all-woman software development team which we hope to expand to enhance the culture of learning for women entrepreneurs who code across the country.
At the 2015 Code for America Conference, former Etsy CTO, Kellen Elliot-McCrea talks about how organizations can transform their culture. In reference to the rapidly changing technology and computer software industry Elliot-McCrea insists “You need a culture that supports learning.” He talks about how continuous learning is essential to success and that organizations need to consistently be teaching, learning and evolving to stay relevant in tech.
According to McCrea how can engineering and technology organizations best support this culture of learning? The steps McCrea lays out are: Confidently Take Risks, Honestly Reflect, Invest, and Teach. Which he says should be evaluated on a rotating basis to transform your organization’s culture.
Another leader in the tech industry advocating for an enhanced culture of learning is Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg. Sandberg recently launched a program to support and encourage women working within computer science and engineering communities to continue to surround themselves in a culture of advanced learning to achieve their goals.
Even at Sandberg’s own company, Facebook, only 15% of their global tech workers are women. Additionally, women account for just 18% of computer science majors and only 7% of tech startups are run by women. Sandberg talked to TechCrunch about encouraging women to get involved in the tech industry and said that “We can all come together to support women in these fields. We can change the numbers, change the stereotypes, and change the world.” she also says her program “encourages [women] to speak up, enroll in classes they were afraid to take, and apply for jobs even if they aren’t sure they’re ready.”
mRelief’s initiative will address the importance of mentorship for developers and help promote much needed computer science initiatives targeted at women entrepreneurs. We are working to advance women’s coding proficiency in the context of software development. We welcome all forms of support towards this endeavor and if you would like to donate, contributions are currently being accepted at our Fundly campaign page.
Learn more about mRelief here.
