Toronto (Canada) – Fasken today confirmed it is renewing and increasing its sponsorship agreement with Hackergal, a charitable organization inspiring girls to explore the opportunities in computer science across Canada. Already a supporter since the organization’s inception in 2015, the Firm is now Official Legal Sponsor.
“We’ve been a Hackergal supporter from the very beginning,” said Peter Feldberg, Firm Managing Partner. “Hackergal is affecting positive change by introducing girls to code and closing the gender gap in the tech space. The growth in the level of participation over the past five years has been impressive.”
Hackergal’s fifth Annual Hackathon will be held today 11 with over 4,500 girls in nine provinces connecting virtually to share their coding skills with their peers across the country. This year’s theme, “Leaders in Herstory”, will challenge participants to identify the characteristics of a true leader as well as what it means to be a leader.
Hackergal is changing the Canadian tech landscape through its mission to introduce girls to coding at a young age. “Tech is the fastest growing industry in Canada, but over half of Canadian tech companies have no women on their leadership teams,” said Lucy Ho, Founder, Hackergal. “Our Mission is to inspire young girls to get interested in coding during their middle school years, when they are beginning to think about what career path to pursue.”
Hackergal Founder Lucy Ho and Ontario Managing Partner Martin Denyes
By teaching girls at a young age that computer science is fun, interesting and important, Hackergal hopes to help close the gender gap in technology. Participating schools are provided with a software platform and lessons to teach basic coding in advance to a select group of girls. Then, at a full-day hackathon, the students build an interactive story online, using the coding concepts they’ve already learned. The hackathons create a community of female coders across the country, inspiring girls to continue their coding journey after the program, and explore the possibilities of computer science at the post-secondary level.
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