Established with a gift from alumnus and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark (CIT ’75; GRS ’77, computer science) through Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the new Women in Tech Initiative at Case Western Reserve University seeks to build a strong community of female students in technology fields.
The initiative launched last month with its spring event, a gathering of about 90 individuals that featured talks by three alumnae: Zeynep Erson Omay, research scientist at Yale University, Carmen Fontana, modern software delivery service offering lead at Centric Consulting, and Stephanie Hippo, site reliability engineer at Google.
Evren Gurkan-Cavusoglu, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, is leading the initiative, which aims “to support and educate female leaders in technology by giving women access to a strong, supportive community of peers and mentors, both in-person and online.”
Next, the initiative is planning to host a fall mixer to engage first-year students with the electrical engineering and computer science community from the beginning of their academic career at Case Western Reserve.
Future plans also include a mentorship program, professional development opportunities and a podcast series.