GREEN BAY — When it comes to job searching, the YWCA of Greater Green Bay is showing young girls that it's never too early to start.
The YWCA's TechGRYLS program provides weekly summer workshops for girls in 3rd through 8th grade. Each week, the girls visit a new location where they observe women working in non-traditional roles. The program is designed to give girls hands-on experience in the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics - also known as S.T.E.A.M.
“We’re showing girls that there are all these different jobs that you can have and a lot of them are right here in Green Bay,” said Valerie George, the director of communications and fund development for the YWCA.
From local museums to local hospitals, the girls are exposed to women working in a wide variety of careers. You can see a complete list of the organizations that will be partnering with the YWCA this summer here.
“The goal is that the girls go on a field visit and they’re able to see a woman who is working in an engineering field or is working in a field that they’re studying,” George said.
The program is funded by the Women’s Fund of the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation. The fund is providing $87,000 in grant funding to local organizations for programs that uplift girls and women.
“We have to pay staff, we have to pay for supplies, we have to make sure that we have transportation, so when we get a grant that covers everything it just makes it so much more doable,” George said.
George says the goal of the program is to show young girls that there's no limit to the amount of roles that women can fill.
“Our goal is to help girls understand that there are different kinds of opportunities out there than are traditionally marketed towards women and there are women working in these industries that they might be able to identify with,” George said.
To learn more about TechGYRLS, you can visit ywcagreenbay.org
