About us
Who are we? We are girls and boys living IT. Actually, there are very few girls. We want to change this and even out the numbers. We want more women in tech because it makes perfect sense. And because soon, nobody will be able to do without digital literacy. And because companies cannot do without new IT talents and diversity in their teams.
We organize courses for girls and women. On programing, web development, graphic design or data analytics. We create an environment, where they do not have to feel ashamed for raising their hand and where they can improve their skills. During workshops, our coaches are happy to answer any question and to help tackle any issue. And then there is the Czechitas community of coaches and course alumni, ready to provide advice regarding professional career and further education.
We write the stories of women in tech from their very beginning. We help them find their way into tech, motivate and educate them. We assist girls in choosing their field of study, we guide them towards specific technologies, and advise them in their career paths. We even connect them with professionals in the respective fields.
In the realm of ones and zeroes, we are by all means the ones.
What we do
In 2014, we founded Czechitas as a non-profit organization and started the journey towards higher tech literacy among women and youth. In the summer of 2015, we were awarded the Social Impact Award for our social contribution. We started to work on the long-term sustainability of our business and the independence of Czechitas.
We expanded our workshop portfolio to cover a wide range of technologies and fields within IT. Together with Keboola, we created DataGirls, courses on data analytics.
We realized that the choice of future employment starts even sooner. That’s why we plunged into the Programming Academy project, educating teachers and children in elementary and high schools.
In 2015, our founder Dita was ranked among the New Europe 100 challengers, the TOP one hundred innovators from the Central and Eastern Europe, trying to make the world a better place using digital technologies.
In 2016, the European Union acknowledged our work within the community with the "European Citizen Prize". We were the very first organization within Central and Eastern Europe to receive Google.org prestigious grant to fund our Digital Academy requalification program.
We aim at providing accessible tech education to women in the Czech Republic. Together with Konica Minolta under our joint project #czechitasgoglobal and with our DataGirls series, we also expand to several European cities.
Even other continents know about us. In 2017, we received the SXSW Community Service Award in Texas. We are truly happy about this because it means that our work makes sense world-wide.We educate
All year round, we organize lectures, workshops and long-term courses focused on:
Programming
Web development
Graphic design
Digital marketing
Data analytics
As we know all too well how hard it can be for a girl to raise her hand in a room full of guys, we help girls and women take first steps towards tech, and guide them along the way. If they continue to pursue work opportunities or studies in tech fields, our mission is accomplished. But even after that, we stay in touch and engage them in helping others find their way.
We show youths that career in tech is a great choice
We motivate young students to choose IT fields of study in their further education. Apart from workshops and courses held during the school year, in 2015 we successfully ran the first IT Summer School. Since 2015, we have been contributing to tech education in elementary and high schools within our Programming Academy joint project with Microsoft.
We lecture and network
Every now and then we meet during our Czechipub events in Prague and Brno, or expand our knowledge working on real projects within our Coding club. A bit more formally, we participate in panel discussions and lectures. Follow us on Facebook and come along!
We raise data analysts at #digitalacademy
Since January 2017, we pilot our first complex three-month-long program of Digital Academy, educating women with no previous experience in data analytics, and resulting in possible employment in one of the participating companies. The project is supported by Google.org.
THANKS
Our big thanks goes to all the volunteers, girls and boys, companies and individuals, who have participated in our projects. We took a big step forward together in creating many exciting stories of women in IT.
Team
Strategic Advisory Board
Tamar Newberger
Diplomatic Spouse
Tania Le Moigne
Director Czech Republic & Slovakia
Lenka Čábelová
Communication and Citizenship Lead