Tech non-profit to provide scholarships for impoverished girls, women

CHENNAI: TechDiva Foundation, a non-profit that aims to provide equal access and opportunities to women from economically deprived and marginalised backgrounds, is organising an ‘All Girls Hackathon’ on December 4 at Anna Centenary Library.

Through this flagship program, a select few participants will be given scholarships to pursue higher education and excel in technology.

Speaking to DT Next about the initiative, Manu Sekar, founder of HashHack Code and co-founder TechDiva Foundation says, “The idea of the organisation is to get more girls from low-income communities into the tech industry. Even though gender diversity in the industry has come a long way, we don’t see many people from low-income backgrounds.

“The way I see it, learning to code helps breaks barriers. Education has the power to change one’s life, career and even change a community.”

Talking about the flagship program he says the initiative will help and empower both female students who just finished school and also women who are looking to kick-start their careers. “As a process of selection, we are going to test participants for their basic literacy skills. Even if the participant has no prior coding knowledge, all they will require is logic and reasoning skills. Candidates with potential will be selected for the UpSkill Coding Boot Camp.”

Manu Sekar teaching basics of coding at a school in the city.

He says in this boot camp, developers from all over the world will team up with the participants and mentor and coach them as to how to code. Together they will build either an app or a bot. After the boot camp, participants will prepare a presentation and explain their tech.

“After this, we’ll have the Code-Up Challenge. In this challenge, the participants will have to showcase what they have built to a panel of foundations, companies, and educational institutions that will support them in their higher education. It could either be in the form of free education or a monthly scholarship. This is a huge opportunity for young and talented women who are held back because of their financial status,” he says.

Participants can register at www.bit.ly/TCHDV22. Registrations close on November 22, with limited seats. For details contact 9886693027.