Building a Community
Imagine testifying at the Minnesota State Legislature for a STEM education bill AND building your own competition-crushing robot, all before you were even old enough to vote!
Enter the Iron Maidens and the Rebellious Robots, two all-girl student robotics teams from Minnesota. Their presentation at C.H. Robinson provided inspiration and a renewed sense of purpose to our Women in Tech (WIT) group.
Parallels
Listening to these young ladies articulate the design and implementation of their robots left a lot of us wondering what we were doing at that age. While these young women still face the challenge of paving their way through a world of robotics outnumbered by young men, they’ve built a community within their schools. With a mission statement that “seeks to promote STEM and robotics through outreach, especially, but not exclusively to young girls,” it was easy to see the parallels with WIT’s mission.
Mission Critical
The mission for Women in Tech is to:
- Empower women
- Build better connections across roles and teams
- Grow professionally and personally
- Encourage more girls and women to enter IT professions
- And change the world while we’re at it.
Open to All
What began as a Slack channel for women in IT to share their experiences, post articles and ask questions quickly grew into a passionate group of highly motivated women who started bringing their ideas to life.
While WIT was started by women, everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend the events. Many of our colleagues, male and female, join the group for all types of events such as the high school girls’ robotics team demos, a panel on being more assertive, or a discussion on the latest company earnings call. In our first year alone, we hosted 28 events that aligned with our mission.
Word on the Street
So what do people have to say about Women in Tech at C.H. Robinson? In their own words…
Makes me proud to work at C.H. Robinson
Enabled me to be on a leadership team and hone in on my leadership skills
I’ve been on all-man teams for a very long time in my career. It’s nice to have the community
Helped me feel supported by female leaders
I belong here
Leading the Charge
Years ago, we may not have had opportunities for advocacy and STEM outreach like the Iron Maidens and Rebellious Robots, but we are creating our own today. The women involved in WIT are passionate about what they do. It’s exciting to see women leading the charge in creating opportunities and changing the status quo!