Ah, summertime. Beach parties, BBQs and…building apps? That’s what 20 high school girls were doing at eBay for the last eight weeks, in a program run with Girls Who Code. They graduated yesterday, in a ceremony attended by top Marketplace executives.
eBay developed the curriculum, which includes classes at San Jose’s South campus and two days at StubHub, jointly with Girls Who Code. The girls got hands-on experience in web development, design, mobile and robotics. They learned to pitch ideas, and developed apps in a hackathon that they presented to senior eBay executives.
Girls Who Code is a nonprofit organization that aims to educate, inspire and equip girls with the skills and resources to pursue opportunities in technology – which eBay Inc. also sees as a priority, seeing that there has been an 80 percent decline in the number of female computer science graduates over the past 20 years in the United States.
“I’m a big supporter of Girls Who Code and its mission to educate, inspire and equip girls with the skills and resources needed to pursue opportunities in computing fields,” said Richelle Parham, chief marketing officer and vice president, eBay Marketplaces North America. “In a technology-enabled world like we live in today, we need more female computer science professionals to not only increase the talent pool, but to ensure diversity of thoughts and ideas – ultimately creating a better end product.”
Photo: The girls of Girls Who Code, along with some daughters of eBay employees and eBay Inc. volunteer mentors, with eBay Marketplaces President Devin Wenig (back row, center). Courtesy of eBay Inc.