Help this Philly nonprofit set the world record of girls coding

Philly STEM education nonprofit TechGirlz wants to set a world record for Women’s History Month: Through a series of simultaneous workshops, it plans to get hundreds of girls writing code at once.

On March 30, TechGirlz says it will get hundreds of girls in Philly — plus an undetermined number of girls in additional workshops across nine states — to undergo coding education at once, as part of an event called Code Breakers. Register to participate, plan a workshop or sponsor the event here.

TechGirlz founder Tracey Welson-Rossman says the plan is less about staying in the history books and more about encouraging tech education among young girls.

“In Code Breakers, we hope to create a world record that can quickly be broken,” said Welson-Rossman. “There is a rising tide of girls joining programs like TechGirlz because of an interest in tech, to learn new skills with their friends, or to pursue it as a lucrative and empowering future career. It is only fitting that we recognize this sea change on the occasion of Women’s History Month.”

(Read Welson-Rossman’s guest post on how the innovation ecosystem can create a positive trajectory of change for women in a tech-driven economy.)

For the Code Breakers push, TechGirlz found a partners in Drexel University, which will host one of the Philly-based workshops.

TechGirlz said that the organization, whose workshops have been taught by volunteers around the world, is on track to beat its projection of reaching 20,000 girls by 2020.