Microsoft DigiGirlz Day KCMO 2018

Published by Valorem Reply

For the past couple of years Valorem Gives has teamed up with our Microsoft partner to support the DigiGirlz program aimed at helping the young women of our community learn more about the careers available to them in STEM (Science, Technology, Education, Mathematics). Here is a quick recap of the 2018 Microsoft DigiGirlz Day in KCMO at the Cerner Innovations Campus.

As a company who's ability to remain competitive and best serve our evolving client needs is highly dependent on our continued success in obtaining the best talent to fill open positions. Therefore success of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education programs in producing qualified candidates into the workforce can directly impact our businesses. Fueled by this and our passion for giving back to our community, we regularly team up with our Microsoft partner to support their YouthSpark Programs like DigiGirlz. This year marks our 3rd year participating in the Kansas City DigiGirlz Day event in which Valorem and other local businesses welcome young women from high schools around Kansas City to network with leaders in the IT industry and learn more about the career paths available to them with a STEM education. This year's event was a huge success with over 200 female high school students in attendance and Valorem was honored to have six Valorem team members invited to participate in various activities throughout the day. DigiGirlz Day gives high school girls the chance to interact with Microsoft employees and female professionals in STEM fields to gain exposure and an inside look at what it's like to work in these fields. Our hope is that this exposure and learning opportunity will encourage more young women to consider STEM education paths. Activities include career planning assistance, thought provoking exercises, demonstrations of the latest technologies and opportunities to ask panelists questions about their jobs and day-to-day functions.

The Valorem team participated in the speed networking event in which each attendee had the opportunity to sit down with female professionals for a personal talk about their companies and roles. We also helped attendees get hands on with the latest in mixed reality technology by providing a presentation and subsequent demonstrations of the Microsoft HoloLens device. Our team helped students learn hand gestures for engaging with extended reality (XR) applications with holographic solar system models and air traffic control flight patterns. Check out our video recap and photos from the event to see all the fun!