Who: Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code
Why: Saujani is working to reverse the decline of women in the technology sector by empowering girls to pursue majors and careers in computer science.

I first heard of Girls Who Code (GWC) while surfing the internet with my 11-year-old daughter. She loves technology, is a whiz at everything from Instagram to Excel, and wants to learn more about the inner workings of computers. But as we were looking online for a fun after-school computer class in our Brooklyn, NY neighborhood, we came up short. The classes we found didn’t look like fun, and there was something else that caught our attention: all the websites featured photos of young boys, huddled together, looking at computer screens. “I don’t want to do that,” my daughter Caroline said.

After some more digging, we found GWC’s website. It featured the smiling faces of young girls who looked like my daughter — and no boys were pictured.

We discovered that GWC was founded in 2012 by Reshma Saujani in an effort to reverse the decline of women in the technology sector. Nationally, the percentage of female computer science majors has plummeted from 37 percent in 1984 to just 18 percent today. The gender gap persists in the workforce, where less than a quarter of technical jobs are filled by women.

To improve these statistics, GWC — along with leading educators, engineers and entrepreneurs — developed a new model for computer science education. It pairs intensive instruction in robotics, web design and mobile development with mentorship from and exposure to the industry’s top female engineers and entrepreneurs. The GWC movement got its start in schools, libraries and community-based organizations across the country.

GWC launched with one program in New York City, and in one year expanded its seven-week Summer Immersion Program to eight programs in five cities nationwide. Currently, it offers 19 programs reaching 375 girls. On Dec. 15, however, GWC announced an expansion of its Summer Immersion Program to 60 programs reaching 1,200 girls. GWC is adding Austin, Texas; Chicago; Los Angeles; and Washington, D.C. to its list of markets this summer, in addition to expanding its footprint in Boston, Miami, New York City, Seattle and across the San Francisco Bay Area.

The program is free for participants and is sponsored, hosted and implemented by corporate partners from diverse sectors, including Accenture, Adobe, AIG, Akamai, AOL Charitable Foundation, AppNexus, AT&T, eBay, Electronic Arts, Expedia, Facebook, The Honest Company, Twitter, Viacom, Verizon and more.

“The gender gap isn’t just a Silicon Valley issue anymore,” said Saujani in a press release announcing the Summer Immersion Program expansion. “The shortage of women in technical roles, whether it’s retail or entertainment, is a massive crisis both in terms of innovation and socioeconomic equality throughout the United States.”

Saujani has a track record of working together with constituencies to bring her missions and visions into focus. As deputy public advocate of New York City, for example, she served as executive director of the Fund for Public Advocacy, which brings public and private sectors together to encourage entrepreneurship and civic engagement across New York City. What’s more, in 2010, Saujani became the first South Asian woman to run for Congress, promoting smarter policies to spur innovation and job creation. She’s also the author of “Women Who Don’t Wait in Line,” released in October 2013 by Amazon Publishing, which advocates for a new model of female leadership focused on embracing risk and failure, promoting mentorship and sponsorship, and boldly charting your own course — personally and professionally.

Caroline is looking into participating in the Summer Immersion Program. Maybe one day she’ll become a computer science expert — or a leader like Saujani.

Have any suggestions for women to highlight in our “Women We Love” feature? If so, please send me a note at mcampanelli@napco.com.