The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) and Bank
of America today named five young women from Dallas-area high schools
winners of this year’s NCWIT Award for
Aspirations in Computing. The prestigious award recognizes young high
school women for their computing-related achievements and interests.
The Dallas-area award winners are being acknowledged for their
outstanding aptitude and interest in information technology and
computing, solid leadership ability, good academic history and plans for
post-secondary education.
The winners are:
Katherine Argueta, School of Business & Management
Lillybeth Garza, The Academy of Irving ISD
Elizabeth Lass, School for the Talented and Gifted
Gracie Saunders, TAG Magnet at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center
Lauren Yew, Prosper High School
The NCWIT Award was created to acknowledge the computing aspirations of
young women and generate visibility for women’s
participation in computing-related pursuits. “Encouraging
young women’s interest in technology careers
is critical: our workforce needs their creativity and their innovation,”
said Lucy Sanders, CEO and Co-founder of NCWIT. “Bank
of America’s sponsorship for this award helps
us recognize and encourage talent that might otherwise be overlooked.”
“Bank of America is pleased to partner with
NCWIT to help more young women pursue technology-related careers,”
said Barbara Desoer, chief technology & operations officer at Bank of
America. “These skills are in demand across
the world, so it’s imperative we invest in
our students and give them the resources and opportunities they need to
compete and thrive in the global economy.”
Each award winner will receive:
• $500 in cash
• A laptop computer provided by Bank of
America
• An all-expenses paid trip, provided by Bank
of America, for each award winner and a parent or guardian to attend the
Bank of America Celebrating the Stars of the Future Technology Showcase
and Awards ceremony August 2-3, 2008 in Charlotte
• An engraved award for both the student and
the student’s school
• Inclusion in a video highlighting her
accomplishments in computing, her future aspirations and her
participation in the awards ceremony
• The opportunity to apply for a three-year
internship with Bank of America beginning the summer following her
freshman year of college
A total of 28 winners have been selected from Atlanta, Boston,
Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas and New York City metro-area high schools.
All the winners will be honored August 2, 2008, in Charlotte at the Bank
of America Celebrating Stars of the Future Technology Showcase and
Awards Ceremony.
Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions,
serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and
large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset
management and other financial and risk-management products and
services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United
States, serving more than 59 million consumer and small business
relationships with more than 6,100 retail banking offices, nearly 18,500
ATMs and award-winning online banking with nearly 25 million active
users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business
Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA
lender to minority-owned small businesses. The company serves clients in
more than 150 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the
U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the Fortune Global 500.
Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow
Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
NCWIT
NCWIT is a coalition of over 100 prominent corporations, academic
institutions, government agencies, and non-profits working to increase
women's participation in information technology (IT). Member
organizations include Apple, Avaya, Bank of America, Catalyst, Cisco,
Girl Scouts of the USA, Girls Inc., Georgia Tech, Google, Harvard, HP,
Intel, IBM, Kauffman Foundation, Lehman Brothers, MIT, Microsoft,
Motorola, National Science Foundation, University of Texas at El Paso,
University of Illinois UC, Pfizer, Princeton, Qualcomm, Sally Ride
Science, Spelman, Stanford, Sun, University of Colorado, UC Berkeley, UC
Irvine, University of Washington, Wal-Mart, and many more. To find out
more, visit http://www.ncwit.org.
