PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

Staff Report

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – According to national organizations dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology, young women are being left behind in a field that is destined for growth.

Fewer than one in five computer science graduates are women, and girls’ interest in computer science drops off between the ages of 13-17, according to Girls Who Code.

The Spady Cultural Heritage Museum is joining the effort to change the trend.

Along with organizations like Black Girls Code (visit them online at www.blackgirlscode.com), the museum is offering a Girls Technology & Leadership Academy for girls ages 9-17.

The monthly program – held on the third Saturday of each month at the museum, located at 170 NW Fifth Avenue in Delray Beach – offers technology skills, such as computer coding, website design and web bots. Participants also study the history of female innovators and learn personal development, life and leadership skills.

Recently, the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County awarded The Spady Museum $28,750 to support the Girls Technology & Leadership Academy. The Spady Museum’s Academy was one of 26 grant ideas funded through the CSC’s Great Ideas Initiative.

The Girls Technology & Leadership Academy is also funded in part by the Women’s Foundation of Palm Beach County.

The Great Ideas Initiative, started by the Council in 2016, provides grants of up to $25,000 to nonprofits with proposals that enhance the lives of Palm Beach County’s children.

To qualify, the nonprofit must have an annual operating budget of $1 million dollars or less and have been in business for at least two consecutive years.

“We’re thrilled to continue to encourage and support local non-profits with this initiative,” said Lisa Williams-Taylor, the Council’s CEO. “To see their ideas take flight inspires the believer in all of us.”

To learn more about the Girls Technology & Leadership Academy, contact Tonya Akins, youth program coordinator at The Spady Cultural Heritage Museum and leave a message at 561-279-8883.

You can also learn more about the museum – which is the only museum in Palm Beach County dedicated to sharing the African, Haitian and Caribbean-American contributions to Florida and the U.S. – by visiting www.spadymuseum.com.