Through a continued effort as part of the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, funded in part by the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario and facilitated by the WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation, WEtech Alliance, Developer Student Clubs – University of Windsor, and EPICentre are teaming up to host the inaugural Driving Diversity: Women in STEM Networking event where organizers plan to launch Windsor’s newly declared Google Women Techmakers.

On Wednesday February 12, 2020 at 6:00pm at the University of Windsor’s EPICentre, students, professionals, and founders will have the unique opportunity to gain valuable connections, resources and insight about experiences and pathways to STEM careers.

The event will be comprised of networking opportunities and a panel discussion featuring professionals Joelle Sniatenchuk, Director, Software Tools Development and IT at BlackBerry, Angie Colon, Team Leader, Software Engineering at Quicken Loans, Terri Michienzi, Engineering Manager at Ag-Tronic Control Systems, Inc., and a Female Founder from EPICentre’s new EPIC VentureWomen Idea Accelerator program.

“In order to further our mission of increasing and advancing female participation in STEM careers and entrepreneurship, female role models and mentorship play a key role in helping them achieve success.” says WEtech Alliance President/CEO, Yvonne Pilon. “Over the last few years, we have seen an increase in local female-focused clubs and organizations including Women in Cybersecurity, Women in Engineering, Women in Science, Canada Learning Code, Build A Dream, and Technovations. This event is all about getting everyone in one room to better connect women to mentorship opportunities, role models, enabling organizations, and resources. We have a lot of puzzle pieces. We just need to better connect them.”

The panel will be moderated by Aislyn Laurent, Windsor’s newly declared Google Women Techmakers Ambassador. Google’s Women Techmakers program provides visibility, community, and resources for women in technology.

“Petitioning Google to bring Aislyn into the fold was a no-brainer” says Developer Student Club Lead, Noah Campbell. “She is already a pillar of the STEM community at the University of Windsor and her acceptance into the Women Techmakers’ (WTM) program gives both the Developer Student Club (DSC) and the Google Developer’s Group (GDG) enhanced capacity to support women in tech through tailored programming, mentorship, scholarships, and access to a global network powered by Google”, Campbell adds.

This new addition gives Windsor the unique status of hosting three Google Developer outlets through WTM, GDG (led by Don Ward, Senior Research Engineer at Quicken Loans), and the DSC.

The community is encouraged to learn more about these exciting developments in addition to career paths and strategies for women in STEM at the Driving Diversity panel and networking event. In addition to a wealth of knowledge, light refreshments will be provided. Tickets are free and can be found on Eventbrite (https://bit.ly/2GnObz9).