Chair’s Message
Welcome to the August, 2015, issue of ACM-W Connections. As promised last month, I want to begin reporting on some of the changes and initiatives that we discussed at the Council meeting. I am very excited that we are making some changes to the structure of ACM-W. As our programs have expanded, the job of being ACM-W Chair has also grown. It is with delight (and relief!) that I can announce that we have created a Vice Chair position and Jodi Tims (Baldwin Wallace University) will take on that role. Jodi’s name is likely familiar to many of you as she has been leading the ACM-W Celebrations project for the last several years. Jodi has been an incredible support to me since we began working together, and I look forward to continuing and expanding our efforts as she takes on her new role as Vice Chair.
In her own report, Jodi will have more to say about Wendy Powley (Queens University) who will be taking over leadership of the Celebrations project. I will just note here that Wendy has been a real stalwart champion of ACM-W and I am thrilled that she’s agreed to take on greater responsibility to continue the success and growth of ACM-W Celebrations.
In other news, we have recently decided to sponsor three activities by other groups. This will be our third year as a Bronze Sponsor of WiCyS, the Women in Cybersecurity conference. It is a fabulous event, attracting many students. Please pass along information to women you know who are in or might be developing an interest in cybersecurity.
Following on our decision in June to support the TechKobwa summer program for girls in Rwanda, we have made a modest contribution to Stawa University in Uganda. The university is committed to improving science education among women and girls in East Africa and is developing a mobile classroom that will allow them to take computing education into rural areas. The university is also planning to start an ACM-W chapter which will be our third in Africa.
Finally, we will be a Silver Sponsor of LATINiTY, the Latin American Women in Technology Conference, taking place in Santiago, Chile, in November.
In this issue of ACM-W Connections there is news from Chapters, Celebrations, and Scholarships. There is also a lot of exciting news about the womENcourage, the upcoming ACM-W Europe Celebration of Women in Computing. Next month we will have more news about ACM-W changes and some other announcements as we kick off a new academic year. Thanks, as always, for supporting ACM-W and women in computing.
~Valerie Barr, ACM-W Chair