Interning at Techtonica by Joshua Chan
Before interning at Techtonica, I gained an interest in technology from my computer science classes at school, but I never had any experience working in tech. I became connected with Techtonica through sf.citi’s Future Grads program, which partners high school students with tech companies. Upon learning about Techtonica’s mission of helping local, underrepresented women get into the tech workforce, I knew that it would be a perfect opportunity to explore a field of my interest, learn how a company operates, and help bridge the tech gap.
While interning at Techtonica, I was mentored by founder and CEO Michelle. Everyday, I was presented with something new to learn. A few interesting projects that I worked on included: building content on the website using HTML and CSS and community outreach through emails and social media. It was really cool to learn how to use all the different platforms like Slack, Eventbrite, Mailchimp, etc.. Whether it be teaching me how to use a new online platform or how to update the website, Michelle taught me with such patience. After mentioning my interest in programming, Michelle even spent some of her spare time teaching me additional technical skills that I can implement into my own coding projects.
Since Techtonica is a relatively new non-profit, everything we work on seems to be making a difference. This is the first internship where I definitely feel that I’ve made some meaningful contributions to the company. It feels very good knowing that my contributions are going into the good cause of diversifying tech.
Interning at Techtonica has been a rewarding experience and the skills I’ve learned here will definitely carry on to new opportunities in the future.


