Our second Advisory Committee meeting took place on March 6th, 2019. We covered a LOT in this meeting including: a policy update from Jim Davnie, an equity discussion grounded in the recent 60 Minutes’ episode “Closing the gender gap in the tech industry” and the important responses it provoked as well as an update on our working groups.
Group photo from our meeting
We greatly appreciate our Advisory Committee members and the time they dedicate contributing to CSforAllMN. Please meet our advisory members who were able to join our March meeting:
- Dean Breuer, a Business, Marketing & Instructional Technology Specialist at MN Dept of Education
- Vince Cabansag, the Director of Technology at Clockwork
- Jim Davnie, the Executive Director of SciMathMN & Rep for District 63A
- Edyta Dudek, an Engineer, CS teacher, & Girls Who Code leader
- Russell Fraenkel, the Director of Minnesota State IT Center of Excellence
- Joan Freese, the Director of Educational & Digital Media at TPT PBS
- Joanne Goldberg in Medtronic’s IT department
- Christina Llamas, a Board Member of Technovation MN & regional ambassador for them
- Paul Llamas, Senior Engineering Manager at UTC Aerospace Systems, a Board Memberof Technovation MN
- Kaitie O’Bryan, a high school CS teacher and President of the MN CSTA chapter
- Doug Paulson, the Director of Academic Standards and Instructional Effectiveness at Minnesota Department of Education
- Antoinette Smith, the Co-Founder of TECHQUITY & software engineer at Glitch
- Michelle Vaught, a Specialist at Professional Educator Licensing & Standards Board
Image Source
Our advisory committee also shared some of their first experiences with computers including Atari, Oregon Trail (playing and/or writer for), Apple IIes, Road Runner, Polish structural engineering class in college, Geocities, punch cards, first job encounters, parents’ use of computers, and word processors. Do you remember your first experience with computers? This was a fun question, but we also wanted to think about how can we broaden participation in computing so that all students feel that they have opportunities and valuable first experiences with computers.
As we begin to collect data for our Landscape Report, we’re looking for helpful data sources and input. Do you have any recommendations or ideas? Please share them with us!
- What are potential data sources for Minnesota?
- What are key ways for us to look at participation?
- What other organizations should we reach out to?
We’re already planning and looking forward to our next advisory committee meeting that will take place on May 17th, 2019. Don’t worry – we’ll continue to keep you updated on our efforts and progress in the meantime.
Updates can also be found on our Twitter @CSforAllMN.
Bonus: Looking to spark conversations around gender equity in computer science? Here are some of the great responses to the 60 Minutes episode–and they bring up some valuable questions (listed below):
- An Insider’s Look at Why Women End Up on the Cutting Room Floor
- You Can’t Solve The Gender Gap In Tech If You Don’t Understand Why It Exists
- Girls Who Code Policy Agenda/Recommendations
