Inspiring the next generation of women in tech

At this year’s Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC), organizations of all sizes across industries came together to celebrate and elevate women in tech. Capital One’s presence included more than 200 women technologists and allies, several speakers, and a booth experience designed to engage attendees and give them an opportunity to inspire the next generation of technologists.

With attendee demographics spread across college students and various stages of professional experience, there is a strong desire throughout the GHC audience to not only connect with each other, but to role model for girls and younger students to show them what the face of technology can look like. Capital One Coders, a 10-week program where Capital One associates teach middle-schoolers around the country how to code, was a natural tie to the GHC audience.

With brightly colored cards tied to various tech fields like software engineering, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science, attendees who stopped by the Capital One booth had the chance to personally write a note to a Coders student to boost their interest in STEM, and their self-confidence.

Each card will be delivered to a Capital One Coders student to help inspire them to love tech. The prompt was simple:

Dear future technologist: If there’s one thing that I wish somebody told me about technology when I was in middle school, it’s this:

The response was overwhelming, with hundreds and hundreds of letters written.

Thank you to every attendee who took the time to write a letter to a Capital One Coders student. Your words will have a direct positive impact on shaping the future of technology.

To learn more about Capital One Coders, please click here.