Envoy welcomed over a dozen local 7th- and 8th-grade female students to its office on May 1st for hands-on learning and coding during BitCamp, a one-day software development workshop led by SoftwareGR.
“Technology is a rapidly growing industry and we believe it’s important for these junior high school girls to learn about this profession during a critical time in school where they’re exploring different passions and potential professions,” Envoy CEO and founder Jon Faber said. “Hosting BitCamp at our office gave us a chance to show these young women firsthand that they can have a successful and rewarding career in technology, and provide them with a set of professional skills that they’ll carry into their careers. Envoy is excited to help open doors of opportunity to students in our community.”
BitCamp offered a one-day, hands-on introduction to software development designed for junior high school girls. The workshop, led by Grand Rapids-area software professionals and university students, promoted software development as a profession. Two Envoy employees, Mari-Megan Moore, Senior UI/UX Designer at Envoy and Becky Vandenbout, Web Developer at Envoy, were instructors for Saturday’s session. Both Moore and Vandenbout have served as instructors for BitCamp before, but this was Envoy’s first time hosting BitCamp.
“I absolutely love what I do and I’m really excited to share my passion for software development with these smart, young women,” said Moore. “Thanks to BitCamp, we have the opportunity to empower and inspire the next generation of women tech leaders, and hopefully encourage more junior high girls to pursue a technology degree in college.”
“I’m thrilled to work for a company that is helping young women explore software development, technology and computers – something that was lacking just a few short years ago,” Vandenbout said. “Coding and software development are rewarding, critical skills, and BitCamp is a great way to get young women involved.”
For more information and to register for future Bit Camps, visit bitcamp.softwaregr.org.
