Ninth annual I Wish event reaches more than 15,000 teenage girls in person and online
More than 15,000 teenage girls from Ireland and across the world for visited the RDS in person or virtually today for the ninth annual I Wish STEM Showcase.
The programme included an interview with former President of Ireland Mary Robinson was interviewed by environmentalist and climate change activist Sarah Bryant and took questions from the audience.
“I want to say how pleased I am to be back with I Wish. I’m a great fan of girl power, in fact I’ve seen it in action in the young girl climate activists all over Ireland, some of them I’ve come to know quite well and they are all giving a lot to leadership, so I really feel today is an important opportunity for you to realise your power,” said Mrs Robinson.
The day also saw the first I Wish Stripe Entrepreneurship Programme compatition. The winners were second year students Muireann Coyne, Bláithín Clarke and Sinead Ryan from Tullamore College, Co. Offaly.
Five teams worked with mentors from Stripe over a three-month period, building an initial idea into a business proposal that was presented to judges in a Dragon’s Den style pitch. The winners received €5,000 to support the further development of their idea, and their school.
Gillian Keating, co-founder of I Wish, said: “The world needs more innovation, at I Wish we want to ensure that the next generation of women are fully empowered and enabled to deliver it. The girls have demonstrated that with the right support, young women with great ideas will deliver revolutionary technologies.
“I Wish is committed to giving teenage girls the best chance to succeed through STEM pathways, providing vital access to female role models and addressing issues of a lack of information or opportunity in order to create a level playing field. This is particularly important in the lead up to International Women’s Day on 8 March.”
Caroline O’Driscoll, co-founder of I Wish added: “Today is about two things. It’s about giving girls access to inspiring female role models in STEM and showing the girls what it’s like to work in STEM, and we do that in our exhibition zone. We have some amazing exhibitions like 3D printing, cyber security, how to design an antigen test. It’s such a fantastic opportunity for girls to learn more about this fast growing area.”
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