​My first experience at AGSS was when I was in fifth grade, attending the Geometry Workshop. I was a bit intimidated at first, but mostly curious about what was in store. When I stepped foot into the library’s multipurpose room, the bright tablecloths and welcoming smiles immediately brought joy to me face. I felt like I belonged. We spent the workshop learning about shapes - not just the ones I saw in my school textbook, but ones that went beyond the classroom basics. An origami-lover at heart, I was excited to learn that our activities involved folding intricate, 3D origami shapes.

Now, 7 years later as a high school senior, I’ve had time to reflect on what it was that made me want to volunteer. Part of it was the challenging and intriguing nature of the workshops. They’re not necessarily topics that you will see in any classroom or syllabus. These are often unique and interesting subjects that are explored on a deeper level than students in elementary and middle schools will have experience with. That’s what made my experiences as a participant so fun, and it’s what I strive for as a volunteer and member of the leadership team.

AGSS is where I discovered the fun in learning. I wasn’t being forced to attend; I was able to choose what workshops sounded interesting and become self-motivated to learn and experiment. The beauty of it all is that I’m able to give back to the organization that sparked my love for STEM — whether it was that first Geometry Workshop I attended, the Python Workshop that introduced me to computer science, or the Physics Workshop that I taught with my friend Sophia two years ago. At every workshop, I learn just as much from the students who attend as they do from the workshop’s contents. Their eagerness to learn and ask questions inspire me everyday to do the same — think boldly and pursue curiosity.
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As a volunteer, I aspire to instill that enthusiasm and sense of belonging that I first felt as a participant. There aren’t many spaces where I can be surrounded by an inclusive and safe environment. Back then, I didn’t understand just how valuable it was to be surrounded by older role models who looked like me and peers who were like myself. I’ve worked in labs and been in classrooms where most people there are not female. I’m grateful to always be able to return to AGSS and call it my home. It’s truly shaped my passion for collaboration and developed my love of learning.

I encourage you to cherish the times and memories you make at AGSS -- and who knows? You, too, may return as a volunteer one day!

In 2020, Gitanjali Rao became the first ever winner of Time’s Kid of the Year award. At only fifteen years of age, she won on the basis of her “astonishing
work using technology to tackle issues ranging from contaminated drinking water to opioid addiction and cyberbullying,” according to Time’s Magazine.

This included Kindly, both an app and a chrome extension that uses AI to
prevent cyberbullying before it happens. “You type in a word or phrase, and it’s able to pick it up if it’s bullying, and it gives you the option to edit it or send it
​the way it is,” Rao explained in the same Time’s article. Another one of her
impressive accomplishments was her innovation sessions. Rao organizes
lessons, labs, and contests to help foster young minds with innovative ideas.
“The students that I work with, they just don’t know where to start,” Rao said.
“If you give them that spark that they can then build off…that means one more person in this world wants to come up with ideas to solve problems.”

Now, three years later, Rao is as motivated and extraordinary as she was at fifteen. She is a current freshman at MIT, where she hopes to major in biological engineering and minor in entrepreneurship and innovation. She was also honored at the White House’s first Girls Leading Change celebration this past October “for her work promoting science and innovation among youth, locally and globally, and inspiring them with several inventions,” according to MIT News. “My dream is to work on developing solutions to some of the most complex problems in our communities, and possibly someday run a biotech company,” she told MIT News. 

In addition to all her work with innovation and invention, Rao has written two books—“A Young Inventor’s Guide to STEM: 5 Steps to Problem Solving for Students, Educators, and Parents,” and “A Young Innovators Guide to Planning For Success,” the latter of which will come out in June 2024.

​Rao is an inspiration to young minds in STEM, and proof that there are people fighting hard to change and improve the world we live in today. No matter what age, she is a testament to the fact that you can make a difference for our future.

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We’ve all heard it before — #womeninSTEM, bridge the gap. It’s no surprise, after all, that’s what All Girls STEM Society believes in! But why is it so important to advocate for women in STEM and bridge this gap? Well, in 2020, as reported by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), women still continue to makeup only 28% of the STEM workforce, despite being 50% of our nation’s population. Not only that, but despite the upward trend in lucrative and highly sought after STEM fields such as computer science, the gender wage gap between men in women is more prevalent than ever.

And that’s another reason why advocating for female involvement in STEM even at young ages is so important — the gender wage gap is STILL a big deal! One would hope that in 2023, we shouldn’t have to be worrying about such a systemically sexist issue, yet women are still, on average, earning only 82% of what their male counterparts earn (PEW Research Center, March 2023). Furthermore, 50% of US adults agree that the reason the gender wage gap is still very much prevalent is because of the way women are viewed in the workforce (PEW Research Center, March 2023). These harmful perspectives not only disproportionately harm women of color, but also women who are in STEM fields, a traditionally male dominated workforce. 

So, how are organization such as AGSS doing their part to combat these challenges? By exposing young girls do fun opportunities and activities in the STEM fields, we encourage girls to get involved as early as possible!  Whether it be candy DNA or block programming, offering girls different outlets and opportunities to explore STEM in contexts often not seen or feasible at school can be an incredibly enriching experience. Speaking from personal experience, had my parents not guided me (or in my elementary school eyes, forced me) to do robotics, I never would've realized that there was so much more to computer science than just sitting in front of a computer, multicolored words on the screen. We aim to help girls build confidence in these STEM skills, skills that will be helpful regardless of what path they continue on --- although, totally no bias, but we'd love for you to continue and explore the world of STEM ;)

​Women in STEM Spotlight

Throughout history, women have made many incredible achievements in the science and mathematics fields. Though their contributions have often been overlooked and overshadowed,  without many of these women we would not be where we are today. Among others, women’s developments in space travel, gene editing, and computing programming have changed the world indispensably. To give these women the recognition they deserve, here is a  spotlight on three influential and inspirational women in STEM!

1. Katherine Johnson (1918-2020) 
Born in Virginia, Katherine Johnson was a research mathematician and computer scientist during the 1900s. She is most famous for her calculations of orbital mechanics — essential to the success of the first American space flight. She began her career as a teacher, until 1953 when she started working for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). She described herself and the women she worked with as “computers who wore skirts,” whose jobs consisted of performing mathematical tasks (such as reading the data from the plane’s black boxes). She quickly impressed the men around her with her knowledge of analytic geometry, which often led to her male colleagues and bosses forgetting to return her to her all-female job post. In 1958 she began working as an aerospace technologist for the Spacecraft Controls Branch, where her mathematical calculations proved essential for American spacecraft. In addition to calculating the trajectory of the first American in space, she calculated the launch window for a 1961 Mercury mission, and was called on specifically by astronaut John Glenn to verify the computer’s numbers. Glenn stated that he would not fly unless Katherine Johnson checked the numbers specifically. “Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing,” said Johnson. And with her impressive and indispensable work, she certainly proved herself right.

2. Jennifer Doudna (1964-present)
Born in Washington D.C., Jennifer Doudna is an American biochemist most famous for her work with CRISPR gene editing. She received her undergraduate degree from Pomona College, and has a Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School. Together with Emmanuelle Charpentier (a researcher in microbiology, genetics, and biochemistry), Doudna suggested that CRISPR-Cas9 (an “adaptive immune system that naturally protects cells from DNA virus infections”) could be used for programmable editing of genomes. This proposition became one of the most important biological discoveries in history.. Since her work with CRISPR,  Doudna has been an important figure in the "CRISPR revolution. For example, she used CRISPR in 2020 to develop technologies that addressed the COVID-19  pandemic. She is also often called-upon to help with the ethical side of the CRISPR technology (the morality of changing organisms). For her work with CRISPR and their work with genome editing, Doudna and Charpentier received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This was only the fourth time women had been honored with this award.  “Just because we are not ready for scientific progress,” said Doudna, “does not mean it won’t happen.”
 
3. Ada Lovelace (1815-1852)
​Born in England, Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (Ada Lovelace) was a mathematician, most famous for the title many bestow her with — the first computer programmer. Her mathematical prowess was visible from a young age, and she was known for questioning basic assumptions others had accepted. This was in part due to her interest in poetry as well as math. To Lovelace, intuition and imagination were necessary to understand scientific concepts. She was a metaphysicist, which refers to “to the studies of what cannot be reached through objective studies of material reality.” Between 1842-1843, Lovelace translated an article  written by Italian Luigi Federico into English, and added detailed notes and annotations (named simply “Notes). These notes are critical to the early history of computers, and many say they contain the first computer program. After Lovelace, the first early programming language was called Ada. “The more I study, the more insatiable do I feel my genius for it to be,” she said. Her thirst for knowledge is truly inspirational.





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