SmartLogic Announces 2018 BWiT Micro Grant Recipients

Chelsea Keene -

One of the main goals of the Baltimore Women in Tech (BWiT) Micro Grants Program is to support and empower women in the Baltimore tech community by giving women the opportunity to receive funding for their tech project.

Not only does the project provide funding but it also provides professional development for the women on the selection committee. This year's selection committee was made up by Chelsea Keene of SmartLogic, Paige Finkelstein of SmartLogic, Lauren Olasov of Under Armour, Kayla Tullis of Philips, Dianne Eramo of Allovue, Olivia Brundage of Mapbox, and Qubilah Huddleston of Code in the Schools.

It was a very competitive year for the program. We received 49 applications from tech-minded women in the community, and they requested over $64,000 in funding. In the end, we awarded $7,795 in total funding ($795 over our budget) with the grants ranging from $300 to $1,500.

SmartLogic and Bold Yellow are excited to announce the BWiT micro grant recipients! They are:

  1. Sabrina Depestre: The State of Black Women in Tech is a one-day event held at a local incubator where there will be a keynote speaker, followed by a panel of discussion with Black women in the tech industry, and a Q&A with the audience.
  2. Rachada Chairangsaris & Jennifer Jones: Girls Who Code - Trips to Local Tech Companies is a project that will expose girls to real-world tech offices.
  3. Jessica Brown: Global Air Drone Academy: Fly Girls! is a workshop for girls ages 11 - 13 in conjunction with Southwest Academy Magnet School for Science and Engineering that will use math, science, and engineering skills to model, build, and fly a drone.
  4. Jennifer Schachter: We the Rosies is a project by We the Builders that will create a sculpture of Rosie the Riveter in a rainbow of skin tones as well as a call for video submissions where women can share their own stories and their thoughts on who Rosie could and should be.
  5. Nneka Nnamdi: Fight Blight Baltimore is an organization that identifies, documents, and reports blight in Baltimore City.
  6. Lissa (Liz) Sundermann: Save it with Soldering! is a project that will teach Baltimore County librarians how to properly execute circuit soldering, so they can teach soldering classes at the library.
  7. Lisa Moren: Nonument::McKeldin Fountain is an event held in conjunction with the ACLU that will teach women how to use a free speech app with an AR component that will allow the user to see Baltimore's McKeldin Fountain that was demolished in 2017.
  8. Kathleen Mazurek: Decode Me Space Classroom and Mentor Fund is a social group for young girls, boys, and LGBTQ youth developing digital solutions to bullying and fostering leadership through creative means.

Follow @smartlogic on Twitter and on Facebook to get updates on the BWiT Micro Grants Program and other cool stuff SmartLogic is working on.