Arla

One of my favorite things to do in my free time is reading. I can read anything. I spend most of my summer reading. My favorite genres are psychological thriller and fantasy. Since I can't buy all the books I want I’ve signed up for library cards in several libraries to have as many options as possible. I often read books in English to help with learning new vocabulary. I think literacy is very important and everyone should be given the opportunity to learn how to read and discover a love for books. Reading has expanded the fields of my imagination, it has increased my ability to express myself and has made me a more positive and happy person overall. At first, I was very hesitant about joining Technovation. This whole technology thing is very new to me. A couple years ago I couldn’t even turn on a computer (literally) let alone code. I had never thought I could be good at tech or business. When I thought of programming, what came to mind was complicated text in a computer that only geniuses could understand. After Technovation my perspective changed. I realized I am very good at business, a path I never considered, because I thought I didn't know much about it. It was a life-changing experience and I want to help as many girls as I can see that they can succeed. I want them to see that they are not stupid, that they are amazing, that they can do anything they set their mind on. I want them to consider new opportunities, inspire them, and hope they are doing what I’m doing now this time next year.

Ashley

One of my biggest interests outside of school is exploring social entrepreneurship! Serving Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) on the local, state, and national levels has helped me uncover a love for business and entrepreneurship. I’ve sought out opportunities to pursue it since then. Last fall, I got connected to an organization called TiE Young Entrepreneurs (TYE). With that program, I was able to connect with many like-minded peers, and start my own company called SummerApp. SummerApp is a matchmaking service for high school students to apply to many internships through one application, and for small businesses to easily vet and hire student interns. I currently serve as Founder & CEO, working with a team of three other students and many adult mentors. SummerApp has been able to gain a lot of traction in the Portland market. In summer 2018 we signed letters of intents to match students with more than 10 local businesses, including Northwest Media Collective, Zenith, and Save the Children Action Network. Most recently, we pitched at the University of Oregon’s New Ventures Competition and at TYE State Competition where we placed first in both. I’m excited to continue working on SummerApp and see where it goes!

Mariam

My mother has always been my role model. She is a hard working, confident, independent and caring woman. She never stops learning and improving her knowledge and herself. She studied computer science many years ago, when coding wasn’t even known. Now she is learning it by herself in order to keep up with the new technology and to develop her knowledge and her career. My mother always follows her dreams no matter if they were hard to achieve. For instance, when she chose to study computer science, in order to get good knowledge in it she wanted to study abroad and she did, but she had to fight for that, because a girl studying abroad in my home town at her time wasn’t common. From my mother I’ve learned to be confident and independent. She’s taught me how to follow a dream and to achieve it, and to never give up.

In my country, it's very rare to see girls studying computer science and because of that I want to motivate girls to study technology when they go to university.

Sakshi

I’ve been a Technovation mentor for 3 years and a Student Ambassador for almost a year. I have 2 goals that I have dedicated my life to so far. First, I want to be a serial-digital entrepreneur. Serial here means I want to launch many start-ups. Technovation inspired me to create my start-up, The Farm Theory, in August 2018. Through it I work with marginal farmers and tackle food waste in India. We have worked with a 100 farmers, employed 15 people from rural villages, and have saved more than 40 tons of food waste in the span of 6 months. Second, I want to be the Education Minister of India. Right now I’m working my way to become a Startup Ecosystem Enabler, this is the least I can do for my generation. In November I’m presenting my app at the Grace Hopper Celebration India in and I’m giving a talk about Tech Start-ups and Robotics at Deloitte in June. These opportunities have come to me solely because of Technovation. I couldn’t be more grateful, it has changed my life, like a 360 degree turnaround. That’s mostly why I am so keen to bring this change to other girls’ lives, too. Because Technovation has opened many doors for me, I want the same to happen to other girls too.

Sruthi

After participating with my team in 2016, I realized that I could actually make a global impact, and by giving other girls this opportunity as well, they can too. Technovation was my boost into learning to code which gave me the confidence to expand my knowledge and advance my coding skills. My project, to protect children online using deep neural networks, won an award under the advanced computing category in the Silicon Valley science fair. I also am a national finalist in the ProjectCSGirls competition.

If a 14-year old like myself can take on solving global scale problems like my science project using coding, I can only imagine what an army of girls can do with programming knowledge. By being an ambassador, I want to inspire other girls to go into STEM too. I want to be part of solving the problems in our society, but also motivate other girls. Technovation was an amazing part of my life, I want to make it part of someone else’s as well.

Jane

Before, I was unable to write even a simple line of code, but after I participated in Technovation 2017 I was able to code and develop apps for various purposes. There are lots of girls out there who are unaware of the opportunity Technovation is giving to young girls to see every problems in their society as an opportunity to experience growth. I believe that by being a Student Ambassador, I'll be able to make a positive impact, equip myself with the right skills, and be a change agent and a global citizen. One of my interests outside school is my great love and taste for organic food and the environment. That's why after Technovation ended, my teammates and I continued to work on our app VictualMart. So far, we have been able to reach over 10 farmers in rural Cross River State.  My hope one day is to create a society where food is cheap and accessible by all, and most agricultural produce will no longer go to waste and landfills.