ANNUAL ‘HYPE NIGHT’ EVENT SHOWCASES ATLANTA GIRLS IN STEM WITH LIVE GAME SHOW COMPETITION
Hope for Youth, Inc. hosts annual fundraiser where local girls compete against local professional women in Family Feud-style live games how event; proceeds support after-school programming and camps to equip more girls of color with STEM skills
September 27, 2022 (Atlanta, GA): It’s that time of year again, get ready for the 4th Annual HYPE Night – an evening of fun, celebration, friendly competition and recognition of women and girls in STEM. HYPE Night, is a live game show experience in which young girls and professional women compete against each other in challenging STEM related games. The participants are black and indigenous people of color. HYPE Night is Thursday, October 13, 2022 5:30 – 8:30pm at Tech Square ATL Social Club located on Georgia Tech’s campus.
HYPE Night, created by Hope for Youth, Inc. empowers girls of color to confidently pursue 21st century careers and opportunities in computers and technology. The nonprofit offers programs and opportunities to young ladies, between 6th and 12th grade, to gain technology skills and to establish a pipeline of diverse talent for tech and tech-centered careers.
“HYPE exists to encourage young girls to use their creativity, talent and gifts to compete and solve real-world problems in the areas of tech and STEM,” says founder Kristina Newton. Newton launched the program because women of color were underrepresented in her field. “I left my career as a computer engineer in Corporate America with no Plan B. But I had a passion to pay it forward by helping young women change the face of what a computer scientists looked like,” she adds. This summer Goldman Sachs named Newton one of its “Black Women Impact Leaders.”
According to the National Science Board, women make up 47% of the general workforce. Of the 28% in science and engineering fields, only 5% are women of color. Since 2017 Hope for Youth, Inc. has impacted the lives of nearly 700 young girls. HYPE scholars learn computer coding, skills for website design/creation, algorithms, game designing, networking, and team building. “HYPE taught me the problem-solving aspect of computer science,” says Ajala Horne, a HYPE Alumni and Spelman College Graduate. “I was one of the first students of HYPE and now it’s my turn to pay it forward. For any girl of color who wants to be amongst a cohort of girls who really want to see each other succeed and grow, HYPE is definitely the place for them.”
HYPE Night 2022 is sponsored by Coca-Cola Women in STEM, AXR Edge, Ernst and Young, Alston & Bird, Delta Community Credit Union, Slalom Consulting and LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Professional female participants for the night include Fabiola Stokes of Google, Ashaki Wilham of Coca-Cola and Alisha Searcy, State Superintendent candidate. Don’t miss the celebration, Thursday, October 13, 2022 at Tech Square ATL Social Club, 848 Spring St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30308 (lower level).