Kansas City Women in Technology Highlights National Volunteer Month

The month of April is National Volunteer Month – a few weeks when we can take time to reflect and praise those who offer up their time to contribute and make a difference. Kansas City Women in Technology is a non-profit community organization, which means that a very large portion of sharing our passion with Kansas City comes from its community and volunteers. We are very grateful to those who volunteer their talents and time to help further our mission to get more women involved in tech.

If you’re already a woman involved in tech, it’s very likely you’re in a small group of women, if not the only woman, at your company or events. Our goal is to bring local women in tech together to learn, encourage young girls and women to explore tech, and guide women to boldly pursue technology careers.

With the support and expertise of the countless amounts of volunteers, mentors, speakers, leaders and innovators, Kansas City Women in Technology can proudly host programs such as Coding & Cocktails, Coding & Cupcakes, TechTalks, CoderDojo, and more to provide outlets, resources and encouragement to women and young girls throughout the Kansas City area.

Here are just a few of the various moments and reasons we have to thank those who are involved and celebrate National Volunteer Month…

It [a code-based career] might be intimidating because A. people are older than you or B. they are mostly male. But people in this field are very cool and are very willing to meet new people. –Olivia Mark, Mentor

Get involved with Kansas City Women in Technology earlier. Find a mentor outside of work to help you learn. –Sara Heins & Ashley Sullins, Mentors

For those who are getting into coding, I would say that you should jump in, get involved, and meet people. There are so many resources out there; look for those resources. I feel like my whole life changed when I got involved with Coding & Cocktails. –Ashley Holbrook, Mentor

No matter how long it takes, the journey of self-discovery is worth it. You don’t know where the end is until you find it. –Tamara Copple, Co-Director of Coding & Cocktails

Start working on projects, and do as much as you can every day. –Gabi Dombrowski, Mentor

Being a programmer is not about knowing how to do everything but rather knowing enough to get started and then being able to speak the language and know basic tools so that you can google for the rest and ask intelligent questions. –Julie Heckman, Mentor

Just try stuff out. Start building stuff. There are a lot of resources out there on the Internet that are free and accessible. –Jessica Ralston, Mentor

I would definitely recommend getting involved and finding a community to be a part of. Getting involved with KCWiT has been so much fun and getting to know people who think the same way and in bouncing ideas off of them. –Sarah Duitsman, Mentor

It’s a life skill to be able to work with technology. By knowing more about STEM, you are a better user. You can recognize usage patterns more effectively. –Bill Ayakatubby, Program Director

I knew I wanted to give back, and I knew I couldn’t be the ONLY woman programmer in Kansas City, so I built Kansas City Women in Technology to help women in tech careers network with each other, and to create a way for other women to enter the industry. –Jennifer Wadella, President & Founder

If you’re looking to give back or want to get involved with Kansas City Women in Technology and any of its programs, join our team and help further our mission to improve diversity in technology.

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