Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day was held on Thursday, February 18, 2021 virtually for 78 eighth grade girls to introduce them to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) careers. The event overall was a large success. In addition to the eighth-grade girls, we had 23 mentors engaged throughout the day to assist with questions and keep the girls involved throughout the day. The schedule of the day is below. 
The goal of the day is to immerse the girls in discussion and topics on various careers and opportunities that are available to them either through school or career paths such as internships as well as to provide them guidance and mentorship about persevering through biases and doubt of themselves to achieve their own greatness.
While the event atmosphere was different not being in person, the program did not disappoint. There is nothing better than receiving positive notes after an event that reaps the benefits of the hard work that was put into this large shift of in-person to virtual event. Here is what some of the guardians of these young women sent to us after the event,
“Thank you both for offering this program. My daughter attended today’s event and couldn’t stop talking about all the speakers! The excitement she expressed is awesome and I am so appreciative of all your hard work!!!”
“Thank you, Amanda & Caitlyn, for putting on this event. [She] had a great time!”
“The Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day was a wonderful experience… She really enjoyed and learned a lot from it! I’ll keep an eye on other programs that will come up for her to attend!!”
“I just wanted to share how much I truly appreciated this program as a parent. My daughter who has long expressed an interest in engineering, spoke about this event with so much interest, energy and enthusiasm, which is definitely not something we usually experience with her. Additionally, she came away with an invaluable idea of many different facets that comprise engineering.”
In short, IGED is a day that will forever be an amazing day in the eyes of these young STEAM women. We as co-chairs would like to thank the steering committee who spent countless hours over the last several months working to make this virtual IGED day a success. We also want to thank the mentors and the support staff who took time out of their day to provide each girl a direct line of communication with a scientist, technologist, engineer, artist, or mathematician. Thank you to our speakers throughout the day who provided their encouraging words. Finally, thank you to all the girls who joined us in person and to all those that joined us live on Facebook Live. If you weren’t able to join us, please feel free to re-watch here.
Thank you,
Amanda & Caitlyn
IGED 2021 Co-Chairs
Sunaree Hamilton provides leadership for 
