Akuna Capital’s Post

Happy New Week Tech Queens! As we kickstart another week, let's draw inspiration from these empowering words: "Always know your merit and how special you are, and don’t let someone else’s qualifications make you feel small. If you stick to this, you will always deserve their respect." In this industry often dominated by male voices, we, as women in tech, must recognize our worth and unique contributions. It's easy to fall into the trap of comparison, especially when faced with others who may seem more experienced or qualified. But remember that your journey, your accomplishments, and your perspective are what make you truly special.  When you know your worth, others will also recognize and respect it. You will command the respect you rightfully deserve by staying true to yourself and your capabilities. Let's start the week with unrelenting confidence in our own talents, determination, and self-assurance.  

Calling all Champions of Change! Empowering Girls in STEAM with Rocking Ur Teens CIC Calling all our amazing network! This June, RBS is hosting Rocking Ur Teens CIC for an incredible Girls in STEAM Conference specifically designed to ignite the potential of 13 & 14-year-old girls! This isn't your average careers event. We're talking inspiration, hands-on workshops, and introducing these future leaders to incredible careers they might not have even considered. Here's why you NEED to spread the word: Spark a passion for STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Maths are brimming with exciting opportunities, and we want to show these girls just how much they can achieve! Shatter the glass ceiling: It's time to rewrite the narrative. We'll be showcasing inspirational female leaders and career paths that will blow their minds.Through our speakers Akua Opong CITP MBCS FRSA Charlene Gravesande Seema Kukadia Alexandra Knight CEng FIMechE FWES Build confidence and aspirations: This conference is all about empowering young women to dream big and see themselves as the future leaders in STEAM. How YOU can be a Champion of Change: Spread the word! Share this post with your network, especially educators and anyone with connections to girls in this age group. The more, the merrier (and the more inspired)! Sponsor a future leader: We have a limited number of subsidised places available. If your company is passionate about supporting future generations in STEAM, consider sponsoring a student's attendance. Just drop us a message! Goody bag glory! We're putting together awesome swag bags for the attendees. If your company has any goodies that would inspire these future rockstars (think notebooks, tech accessories, etc.), we'd love to hear from you! Together, let's show these girls the incredible possibilities that await them in the world of STEAM! #GirlsinSTEAM #RockingUrTeens #RBS #FutureLeaders Shout out to my co founders Geoffrey O. W. and Sandy Parris P.S. For more info or to get involved, don't hesitate to reach out! We can't wait to make this conference a smash hit!

Have you heard about Girls'Day - Mädchen-Zukunftstag? Öykü Gümüş gives an in-depth presentation at the PyLadies Berlin meetup (linked below), that can give you the necessary context, the motivation and the tools to make it work in your own company. In short, the event has the goal to showcase different professions to girls by companies welcoming them in their offices and organising info or interactive sessions to captivate their interest. Besides the business advantages that Öykü Gümüş clearly outlines like creating a direct internship pipeline or contributing to the pool of future hires, I would like to elaborate on why this type of events are so impactful and necessary. I have been a parent for almost 6 years. I have often heard sentences like "These things never interested my child", "Everyone is born with their own interests and affinities", and so on. While the nature vs. nurture debate never ends, there is also a wealth of research on role models and things like early STEM/other topics exposure and how both impact children profoundly. Our children benefit greatly from positive role models to serve as north stars during their life journeys, and they also benefit from hands-on exposure to any topic in a safe, supportive environment. Social categories like class and gender have a tremendous impact on who gets exposed to what, and these types of events have a lasting impact on changing that. You could be taking part in that impact by joining the event. From the practical perspective, you need to create a concept for an event lasting a few hours, featuring a small part of your team. I am sure you could reuse most of your concept every year with minor updates. Öykü Gümüş has got you covered when it comes to the details ❤️ https://lnkd.in/eEmw7fr9

Meet our team! Austin Konkle (he/him), our Marketing Manager, is the newest member of the Lex team, wearing every marketing hat in the basket. From growth, to social, to events, and everything in between, Austin makes sure you all *know* who Lex is and what we stand for. Fun fact: he has had his own little moment in the spotlight as a TikTok creator. * Q&A with Austin * Q: What's the most favorite thing that you've worked on at Lex? A: We just launched our Lex Campus Ambassador Program with student ambassadors across North America at over 60 universities! It’s so exciting to see GenZ users far and wide who want to grow their local queer community on our platform. Q: What's your favorite way to use Lex or something you discovered because of Lex? A: I love the Group Explore feature! I find myself going through various categories all the time just to see queer people around the world finding each other and bonding over shared interests. Q: Biggest lesson you learned this year? (Personal or work related!) A: Don’t count yourself out of something before even giving it a shot! There’s a lot of opportunities for Lex and some can seem scary, too ambitious, or like big undertakings, but we’re a small, capable team that’s already proved out so much while being so scrappy. Q: A book/podcast/TV show/movie you would recommend? A: I'm waiting on the edge of my seat for Severance Season 2! 

To help create a sense of belonging. To provide space to hear directly from diverse voices. That’s been at the heart of the BigFuture Community Nights series. And while the series has offered so much rich content for thousands of students, personally I feel like we've saved a special conversation for last.   We're teaming up with Telemundo Academy and offering a Spanish-language BigFuture Live event- for the first time. 45 minutes for students and families to get their college and career questions answered. Si trabajas con estudiantes hispanohablante o las familias de estudiantes, no te lo perdas. Tu futuro a tu manera ✨ https://lnkd.in/gjxr_Fk4

Sharing a screenshot from RockEDU's homepage (https://lnkd.in/eq3CYmze). When I entered this role, it was just me and a part-time administrator. 12 years later, we are an amazing team of 7. The work we do is fast paced, scholarly, and reflexive, and our team is among a small cohort of professionals who are leading the creation of a new, boundary-spanning field. We primarily work behind the scenes, and as such, the work naturally goes unnoticed, or perhaps people think it is cool, but have no idea how much effort and thought goes into it. Or, perhaps people just have no idea what we do at all, and just assume it's working with kids -- something we really only do 1x per year (see our super fun annual family science festival, Science Saturday). As such, I want to shout out the real university supporters of our work, those who get and appreciate what we do, and help make sure we exist (aka fundraising). There is no university mandate for our work; so without consistent external funding -- and the conscious choice to use it for supporting RockEDU -- we go away. With that, major should out to the most creative, hardworking team at Rockefeller, the Development Office, led by the inimitable Marnie Imhoff. I look forward to a future in science where this work is an assumed part of the scientific enterprise! Sure, there has been progress. Still far to go, imo (across the board -- ie creating funded teams at institutions and organizations that uphold salary equity). But today we celebrate!!

Well #STEMfest you’ve been a blast. Though I may need to sleep for a week now! 🤣 Highlights were defo; 💚 hearing a 12 year old boy declare “let’s create an open concept garden” before spending nearly an hour with his mates doing so 💚 a young girl who admitted she is disengaged with school telling me “I never knew science could be this fun!” and deciding she wants to do what I do - illustrating books, doing playful work and helping the planet 🫶 💚 a young girl who sat and read our book cover to cover 3 times and then became my shadow, deciding it’s the best book she’s ever read. So I signed a copy and gave it to her, and she came back with a note to display to ‘tell everyone they must read it!’ 💚 2 boys who took residence under the table to build a city together - I didn’t even realise they were there 🤣 💚The response to the AR and city building apps I was testing (including the teacher that planted a fireman in the space and had me in stitches) I’ve realised quite how much I’ve aged and been impacted by my health since I worked with kids full time, cos crikey it’s exhausting, but kids like these make it all worthwhile 💚 It takes a lot of prep and financial outlay to do these events but it is worth it when you get this response. The kids have been engaged, enthused and polite. They’ve been imaginative and asked very grown up questions. And they built the city of their future! For the first time in a year of events, I had helpers! Which was hugely appreciated 💚💚💚 and actually gave me time to talk to teachers and make connections. I suspect I’ll be back next year. But next up, off I go to the #SCBWI picture book retreat for a bit of catharsis and creativity! More books on the way 🤩 #stemeducation #STEMfest2024 #stemfest24 #STEMgirls #stemyorkshire #primary #secondary #climatescience #sustainableeducation #futurecareers