On May 25th, 2017, Apex mentors and mentees were invited to Google NYC’s Geek Girl Rising – Closing the Gender Gap in Tech event, hosted by Google. The event addressed the question: How are women forging a new path in the tech world and making their mark? As an Apex mentee who is passionate in computer science and female empowerment within the STEM field, I was extremely excited to attend this amazing event along with other mentees who shared the same interests.

We started with a tour of the Google Building on 10th Avenue, and interacted with the many fun features on the walls of their office, like the moving black pieces that followed our movements and the room that shared specific NYC landmarks depending on the moods we chose, which were dictated by our arm movements. After the tour, we settled in a conference room where Regina introduced herself and the other Googlers in the room. A lot of us took advantage of the “Be the Bridge 1:1:1” Students, Interns & Googlers Exchange Perspectives break, and used the time to network with them! I personally had an amazing conversation with Rob, the COE (Corporate Operations Engineer) at Google, and we shared our interests in front-end web development (specifically UI/UX) and Linux machines. He was very passionate about being a Googler, and shared that here at Google, nobody feels left out and everybody is very excited in helping each other out. After our conversation, I left with a better understanding of what Google stood for, and the work ethic and culture it celebrates.

After the break, we sat down at the Geek Girl Rising panel featuring authors Heather Cabot and Samantha Walravens, who shared their experiences from the Silicon Valley and inspiration for writing the book Geek Girl Rising. The next panel discussion was a conversation facilitated by moderator Heather Cabot with three female tech startup trailblazers as speakers: Jean Brownhill-Lauer (Founder and CEO of Sweeten), Kay Koplovitz (Springboard Growth Capital and Co-Founder and Chairman of Springboard Enterprises) and Tiffany Pham (Founder and CEO of Mogul). Each panelist shared her motivation for the creation of her brand, and what she believed it meant to be a female entrepreneur in the tech world. I thought it was a very meaningful panel, and it definitely inspired me to consider business and entrepreneurship when I start college this fall. I even had the chance to speak briefly to Tiffany Pham after the panel, and asked her if she could share one piece of advice for college students. Her advice was: Befriend everyone you meet! The connections you build in college will help you expand your network, and open up opportunities you never thought would be possible.

The Geek Girl Rising event concluded with a networking opportunity. A lot of our Apex mentees (shoutout to Alexis and Nancy) networked with Regina, the panelists and different Googlers. During my conversations with Regina, I was incredibly inspired by her humbleness and her belief in educating others about female impact and technology overall. We talked about Google CS First, an initiative to expose logical reasoning and computer programming to children at a young age, and the possibility of incorporating the program into the Apex after school programs!

The Geek Girl Rising event was an amazing opportunity for our Apex mentors and mentees to hear about the impact that female tech leaders and entrepreneurs have today, and to personally meet the trailblazers after the panel. We also learned a lot more about Google and its culture and employees. Special thanks to Regina for organizing and inviting us — we look forward to more events like this in the future for the Apex community!

-Celine Yan, Development Intern and High School Mentee