Girls – get ready to change the world. Technovation Girls season opens in mid-October, and we’re ready to learn what problems you’re committed to fixing.
Registration for the new season of Technovation Girls opens in October, and girls around the world are invited to sign up for the innovative technology entrepreneurship program. Between October and April, girls will work in teams to identify problems in their communities and create a mobile app to solve them. Teams are supported by mentors as well as local regional and student ambassadors.
Technovation Girls’ emphasis on real-world problems – and the power of girls to solve them right now – are key. Tara Chklovski, (Technovation’s CEO) points out that “real-world problem solving is critical to our programs because it rewards kids’ desire for meaning. Young people are facing an uncertain future, but they want more than job security – they want to shape the world they’re inheriting. Asking them to solve the problems that impact their daily lives means kids develop agency, confidence – and hopefully – optimism about their power to create change.”
Last season, 7,200 girls from 57 countries did just that, collectively creating nearly 2,000 mobile apps, which addressed problems ranging from opiod addiction to domestic violence and climate change. Winners for the season were announced at World Pitch in August, where 100+ representatives from 18 countries gathered for a week of community-building, networking, and field trips.
What’s new for 2020
The 2020 Technovation Girls season marks the 11th year of the girls tech entrepreneurship program, and Technovation is rolling out a number of improvements and updates. The 2020 season will launch with updated curriculum that has been re-structured to break down key concepts into shorter sections that are easier to tackle. The curriculum will still be focused on technology entrepreneurship with units adhering to key categories of Ideation (identifying a problem to solve), Pitching an idea, Entrepreneurship, and Technical (coding the app).
If you have participated in or led Technovation Girls before, take time to fully review the curriculum and submission guidelines and be sure to pay special attention to the updated judging rubric and submission guidelines, as these have shifted the most since last year.
Celebrating Girls and Families Together: New Celebration, New Awards
Finally, this year our celebration event will bring together top participants from both of Technovation’s programs. Finalist teams from Technovation Girls and Technovation Families will meet and share a week of learning, playing, building, networking and more in August of 2020. Because both programs focus on fostering collaboration and creativity to solve real-world problems, bringing finalists together means that there will be more opportunities to exchange ideas, tips, and motivation. A combined global event also brings together more people from all over the world, providing a week of connection and collaboration across countries and cultures.
This combined event also means that the awards for both programs will be changing.
We will select 10 finalist teams instead of 12. This change mirrors the regional winner structure of 1 senior division team and 1 junior division team from each of the 5 regions. The five regions are: Africa, Europe, North America, South America, and Asia/Oceania.
We are changing the number and type of awards presented at the pitch ceremony at Technovation’s global event to create better consistency between the programs.
All finalist teams will continue to receive free travel and accommodations for all team members to Technovation’s global event including food and networking – opportunities worth approximately $10,000 USD/team.
We will be selecting and announcing two winning teams for Technovation Girls; each winning team will receive a $3,000 scholarship for use towards their tech solution or for continuing education.
- Technovation Girls Senior Division Winner, $3000
- Technovation Girls Junior Division Winner, $3000
We will also be announcing 2 “Special Recognition” awards for each program.
Why we’re changing the awards and prize structure
We’re changing the awards and prize structure to better align to our ultimate goal: Supporting girls and families everywhere to be leaders and problem solvers through new technology. We want to encourage and highlight the hard work of all girls and families solving difficult problems rather than the competitive element of winning and losing. Therefore, we are shifting the prize structure to emphasize prizes that extend the learning experience – such as travel to the U.S. for networking during the global event – rather than primarily cash awards. We will focus on celebrating and featuring the amazing ideas and accomplishments of girls and families around the world.