From IGNITE's Founder & CEO, Cathi Rodgveller
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I worked in schools for most of my professional life. It allowed me to witness the inner world of girls and the messaging that affects them.
Today, I want to discuss the kinds of messaging they get and how subtle or direct they are. Girls believe they must be nearly perfect to achieve what is expected from them. They see perfection in magazines, movies, TV, and online. They see what they think is real. These unattainable ideas of perfection are portrayed each and every day in millions of ways to young girls.
For years I did Body Image workshops for teen girls. I wanted them to know that the images they see in magazines, on TV, and in media have been airbrushed and fixed so they understand these images are fake and unrealistic. The outcome of this bombardment of images has caused women to believe they are never good enough.
This messaging translates to all areas of girls and women’s lives. This is why I created IGNITE. I want girls to see real women. Women who are all different colors, sizes, and ages, and are successful in the world. The message is very different when they see these women up close. They get the message that you can be yourself and be successful.
In IGNITE, we send a message that these women were brave, not perfect. It takes courage to not give up when things get hard. And when you get bad grades or make mistakes, you can recover and go on to be successful. That is the messaging we want young women to know.
It takes hearing from real women to counteract some of the non-stop messages girls get from the media, TV, internet, and movies. We want girls to be brave and have courage. That is the message we send to girls in IGNITE.
It takes courage to sign up for a technical class that has mostly boys in it. It takes courage to become technical and mechanical. It takes courage to try new things. When women tell their story to girls in IGNITE, girls learn that it takes courage and being brave to be successful. Not Perfect.
In life, we need to make mistakes and learn from them. Then we learn how to do better.
Share your story with girls, sign up to Volunteer with IGNITE Worldwide and tell girls your story of bravery, and courage to the path of success.
Cathi Rodgveller M.S. Ed.
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Update from IGNITE in California
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(Above) Students from Design Tech High School visiting Nutanix, where they got to participate in a Design Thinking exercise and hear from a Panel of amazing speakers.
Read more
here
.
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California IGNITE ended 2018 with our first event for our first IGNITE chapter in the Peninsula! Nearly 20 girls from Design Tech High School in Redwood City were able to visit Nutanix in San Jose. We'd also like to welcome Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in San Francisco to the IGNITE family!
The 2019 San Francisco Spring Gala is Thursday, March 21 so
get your tickets soon
! The gala's newest sponsors are Alaska Airlines and Microsoft! We have room to invite a few more companies to sponsor this important event. It's so important to our community for companies to show their dedication to inspiring girls and non-binary students in STEM by sponsoring the gala. Sponsorship comes with many perks but a great one is a table of tickets so 10 employees can sit together and enjoy an evening making a difference together. Email Amber at
amber@ignite-worldwide.org
for more information.
Spring will be a great time of inspiration for girls at IGNITE schools. There are field trips to Apple, Facebook, Make School, and Tesla on the calendar as well as many coding, robotics, and maker workshops! Volunteering at IGNITE events means having the chance to make a difference in a young person's life by working one-on-one with girls and non-binary students and by being a part of a panel. Students want to hear YOUR story.
Joyfully Yours,
Amber Zertuche
IGNITE CA Regional Director
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San Francisco IGNITE Spring Gala
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S
upport IGNITE in California by attending our Spring Gala in San Francisco on March 21st, 2019!
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Call for GLITTER 2019 Sponsor
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Opportunity for Companies:
Sponsor IGNITE's 2019 GLITTER Conference in Seattle
What it means to sponsor GLITTER:
- The official GLITTER Panel will be made up of women speakers from YOUR company
- Your company will cover the cost of lunch for girls who attend the event (usually around $500.00)
Your company's name and logo will appear on our promotional materials (see flyer below). This is a wonderful opportunity to introduce high school girls who are interested in STEM to your company!
IGNITE puts on GLITTER (
G
et
L
aunched
I
n
T
echnology
T
hrough
E
ducation and
R
esources) each year at Seattle Central College. The conference hosts 100 young women from schools around the greater Seattle area and aims to inform them of college and career opportunities available in Tech.
When:
Friday, February 15th, 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Where:
Seattle Central College - 1701 Broadway, Seattle, 98122
If your company would like to sponsor the 2019 GLITTER Conference, please email
becky@ignite-worldwide.org or click the button below.
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Follow IGNITE on Social Media!
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If you haven't already, please give us a follow!
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Share your favorite posts with your friends to help IGNITE grow and continue to inspire.
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Join IGNITE's Mentor Program
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IGNITE has received substantial interest from students to be matched with female mentors!
As an IGNITE mentor, you will serve as a role model for an individual student or a small group of girls. This is an amazing opportunity to truly inspire girls and provide advice to those who are curious about pursuing a future in a STEM field.
Currently, we are searching for female mentors who consider English their second language, as the majority of our applications come from ESL students.
Please register here to become an IGNITE Mentor. Due to school policy, all volunteers must go through standard background check procedures.
Teachers: are your students interested in IGNITE's Mentor Program? If so, please send our Program Manager an email at becky@ignite-worldwide.org.
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On December 13th, Female students from Design Tech High School traveled together to
Nutanix
in San Jose.
“I enjoyed the way we felt so welcome at the company and how inspiring it was to see such successful, wonderful women.”
– 9th grade
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On Thursday, December 13th, the middle school girl club at Buena Vista Horace Mann, Tech Chicas, hosted “Breakfast with Women in Tech and Engineering” for all girls at Buena Vista Horace Mann. This event powered by IGNITE with 78 excited girls in attendance.
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December 7, 2018, Federal Way Public Schools’ Decatur High School hosted four amazing panelists. We had over 30 diverse scholars attend the event.
“I enjoyed hearing their stories and the real things that go on as a women in the workplace.”
– 10th grade
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On December 6th, Nathan Hale High School’s chapter of IGNITE hosted five IGNITE Panel speakers. Students listened to the speaker’s stories and challenges they faced in navigating their careers. Students also had the chance to seek advice from the panelists by asking questions.
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20 students from Ingraham High School participated in an IGNITE Panel on Thursday December 6th, 2018. The panel was comprised of women from Amazon, Google, Catchpoint, SAP Concur, Tableau, and Microsoft. Students were encouraged by the panelist to follow their passion and explore what they are good at.
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On November 29th, students from The Center School visited Moz. Overall, it was a great visit and, as usual, our IGNITE-sponsored field trip inspired all the students to do better in school, appreciate their math and technology classes – and want to pursue higher education.
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On November 13th, Milliman hosted students from Nova High School. This event provided some true and meaningful insights in their future options and also created an interest in math.
“The entire event was just everything! It was extremely empowering and uplifting. Representation is everything.”
– 11th grade
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On November 8th, Hulu hosted students from Nathan Hale and Ingraham High Schools in their downtown Seattle office. This was a big deal because it was the first event of this type for Hulu and they were terrific hosts! Students unanimously reported that today’s event made them more interested and inspired them toward STEM careers.
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On November 6th, Roblox graciously hosted 6th-8th grade girls from Buena Vista Horace Mann. The girls were given a tour of all the Roblox departments, which made it such a unique experience for students to actually meet engineers and artists.
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Join IGNITE's Seattle Gala Planning Committee
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Join the 2019 Spring Seattle Gala Planning Committee!
Meet other supporters of IGNITE and have a hand in the planning of our May 4th Gala in Seattle. The committee meets monthly, and always serves refreshments. We would love for you to join us!
To join, send
becky@ignite-worldwide.org a message with your contact information, or click the button below.
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Sign up to speak on an IGNITE Panel
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Speaker at Aki Kurose Middle School
Seattle Public Schools
*Multiple dates -
click a date to register
*
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Renton Public Schools
Thu, January 17, 2019
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM PST
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Seattle Public Schools
Wed, January 23, 2019
11:10 AM – 1:10 PM PST
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Federal Way Public Schools
Fri, March 15, 2019
10:40 AM – 12:15 PM PDT
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Federal Way Public Schools
Wed, March 20, 2019
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Abraham Lincoln High School
2162 24th Ave
San Francisco, CA 94116
Thu, January 17, 2019
9:45 AM – 10:50 AM PST
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Aptos Middle School
105 Aptos Ave
San Francisco, CA 94127
Mon, February 25, 2019
12:00 PM – 2:05 PM PST
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South San Francisco
400 B St
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Wed, February 27, 2019
11:22 AM – 12:57 PM PST
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Thurgood Marshall High School
45 Conkling St
San Francisco, CA 94124
Wed, March 13, 2019
12:00 PM – 1:45 PM PDT
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All speakers must be trained before participating.
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