2021 NCWIT AspireIT Impact Award Virtual Celebration

 

 

Join the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) in celebrating the 2021 NCWIT AspireIT Impact Award recipients on October 5! NCWIT is thrilled to honor the 2021 Impact Award recipients and celebrate their efforts to connect communities of technical women, create opportunities for underrepresented populations, exhibit strong near-peer leadership models, and promote computing career pathways. In addition to the celebration, we will get the chance to hear from one of our long-time Community Members and learn about her personal journey with computing and give attendees time to meet one another in breakout rooms.

Register

To attend, register on Zoom.

Featuring a Keynote Presentation by Rian Walker

Rian Walker is an Assistant Vice President, Information Security Analyst at Bank of America. She has held a role with the enterprise data loss prevention team for two years. Previously, she worked for the bank as a business analyst in the Chief Data Office.

Rian began to explore technology at a young age. Despite growing up in a rural area, she found opportunities to pursue her interests on her own. As a senior in high school, Rian was a recipient of the Award for AiC. The award connected her with Dr. Sarah Lee of Mississippi State University, where she ultimately enrolled to study software engineering. While a student at MSU, Rian and Sarah founded Bulldog Bytes, an AspireIT-funded residential summer camp for middle school girls interested in computer science.

Rian faced many challenges on her road to graduation, including financial hardships. Realizing that she was not the only student facing the choice between financial stability and college education, Rian, along with mentors Ruthe Farmer and Dr. Sarah Lee, co-founded the Last Mile Education Fund in 2019.

Rian resides in Charlotte, NC. She is currently studying for her Masters in Information Technology degree at Virginia Tech.

Other Special Guests

• Edie Cheng, NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Director

 

Psst. Did you know that applications for the 2022 Award for Aspirations in Computing are open now through November 5?

 

The NCWIT AspireIT Impact Award is supported by Amazon, Apple, Google, Northrop Grumman, DoD STEM, and RBC Capital Markets.