This Saturday, Emerging Leaders (ELs) volunteered at one of five non-profits and initiatives throughout San Francisco Bay Area, giving back to the local community and learning more about Bay Area life and culture. They participated in a range of volunteer experiences, from gardening to working with senior citizens to installing solar panels in underserved neighborhoods.
One group of ELs spent Volunteer Day with GRID Alternatives, installing solar panels on a residential building in East Palo Alto. GRID Alternatives is a non-profit that brings solar technology to communities that would not otherwise have access. They provide no-cost solar installations for low-income households,
hands-on solar training that connect people to clean energy jobs and more.
Others spent a day in nature with the San Francisco Botanical Garden, a green space that occupies 55 acres of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and features 8,500 species of plants from around the world. With a mission to provide educational programs and a commitment to conservation, the garden offers visitors an urban sanctuary of landscaped gardens and open spaces. On Saturday, ELs planted seeds, landscaped and learned about local species.
At the Google Community Space in San Francisco, ELs participated in speed mentoring and interactive activities with Mission Bit, an organization that teaches coding to youth and creates pathways for “limited access” students to learn tech skills. There, ELs met with young students, sharing their career advice and hearing about the students’ interests and goals.
Community Technology Network (CTN) believes that internet accessibility is a human right and that people without basic computer skills are at risk of social and economic disadvantage and disempowerment. Their mission is to unite the local community to transform lives through digital literacy training for low income communities and the elderly. At CTN, ELs sat down with seniors who had questions about their devices, helping them navigate their laptops, phones and tablets.
Resource Area For Teaching (RAFT) develops STEAM kits and lesson plans for educators and inspires students to learn about STEAM with hands-on activities in interactive learning spaces. RAFT works with 8,000 educators improve the education of over 600,000 young people each year. On Saturday, ELs worked alongside RAFT to build STEM teaching kits for teachers.
This Wednesday, the group departs for Washington D.C. for the concluding week of #techwomen19. First, however, it’s time to celebrate: tomorrow, the TechWomen community will gather at Twitter for the Community Celebration. Five seed grant winners will be announced, and the group will celebrate everyone’s incredible accomplishments over the past four weeks.
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