Girls in grades 6 - 12 will be heading to the Rochester Institute of Technology this weekend to learn how to code.
The Saturday event is called ROCGirlHacks, and Caitlin Lander, who works with Women in Computing at RIT, says it will challenge participants to come up with technological solutions and tools focused on female empowerment and safety.
"Those projects are along the lines of active bystander, confidence either within the self or within technology, as well as stopping cyberbullying."
ROCGirlHacks was capped at 100 students and is now full, but a waitlist is available. Lander says they also want to show young women there in fact are women in technology and coding industries.
"And there’s a lot more of us then they expect. But also to just encourage them to follow it themselves, and to give them the resources to be able to continue outside of this day."
She says she’s hopeful for the next generation of women coders.
"I didn’t learn how to code until I was in my freshman year of college. And I really wish that I had these opportunities, so to be able to do this now and to share what I’ve learned, and what all of the women that will be there volunteering have to give to this day, that’s really impactful for me to be able to just pass that on."