Tag: Women in Tech

Capito Brings ‘Girls Rise Up’ Initiative To Morgantown

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito visited with Morgantown students Monday morning as part of her ‘Girls Rise Up’ initiative.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito visited with Morgantown students Monday morning as part of her ‘Girls Rise Up’ initiative.

Since 2015, Capito has brought ‘Girls Rise Up’ to schools across West Virginia to inspire the next generation of female leaders.

Capito, who is the first woman elected to the United States Senate from the state of West Virginia, said she hopes the group of girls she spoke to at Suncrest Elementary walk away empowered.

“To be confident, to share that everybody has their weak spots and things to work on, and that you can make a mistake and recover from it,” she said. “I just want them to have a very positive look about themselves and their futures.”

Beyond the ‘Girls Rise Up’ initiative, Capito discussed her efforts in the Senate to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) among young women.

“Women and people of color are way under-represented in the state in the STEM fields, whether it’s engineering or technology,” she said. “These are jobs of the future. I work with Jacky Rosen from Nevada to promote STEM, so that [it doesn’t just] start in the high school years, it’s got to start at these early years, because that’s where the interest really grows.”

Capito was joined by Fox News host and former White House press secretary Dana Perino.

“There’s a saying in mentoring circles: ‘You have to see her to be her,’” Perino said. “It basically is figuring out a way for all these young girls to be exposed to all sorts of different women in the different professions that they’ve chosen.”

W.Va. Women in Tech Conference Features First Female Space Walker

The first woman to walk in space was the keynote speaker at the Women in Tech Conference. Dr. Kathryn Sullivan and several other speakers met at Oglebay Park in Ohio County to talk about empowerment and technology.

About 100 women from higher education institutions, the private sector, and some college students listened to speakers with a wide variety of professional backgrounds who either use technology effectively or work in technological fields.

West Virginia University’s Provost Joyce McConnell, for example, offered thoughts about how to find and hold onto empowerment. And she stressed the point that there are plenty of women who are already mastering and/or contributing to technological fields.

After receiving an award from the Small Business Administration, CEO of New South Media Nikki Bowman spoke about the obstacles she overcame to develop several West Virginia-centered magazines. She warned against apathy, challenged her audience to consider how their choices will impact their community, and exuded pride in her West Virginia heritage to great applause.

The conference’s keynote address was delivered by Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, Under-Secretary of Department of Commerce and Administrator with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Sullivan’s expertise spans the frontiers of the sea to the frontiers of space. She’s an oceanographer and an astronaut.

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This was the second Women in Tech conference organized by TechConnectWV. The organization’s Executive Director Ann Barth says the object is to give women in the state an opportunity to learn, be inspired, and network.

The conference was sponsored by the WV Department of Education and the Arts, Marshall University, West Virginia University, the WV Higher Education Policy Commission Division of Science & Research, the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium, BrickStreet Insurance, WesBanco, and American Electric Power.

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