GE to Host ‘Girls Who Code’ Summer Immersion Program

GE (NYSE: GE) announced today that it will host the ‘Girls Who Code’ Summer Immersion Program at its software headquarters in the greater Silicon Valley. For seven weeks, 20 local high-school girls will be immersed in 250+ hours of intensive STEM-based instruction - everything from robotics, to algorithms, to web design and mobile development.

The program also includes demos, field trips, workshops and informative discussions from female engineers and entrepreneurs. Students will create a product pitch and supporting technical documents to highlight the design, development and debugging of a project of their choosing. At the end of the seven weeks, students will present their projects to peers and technologists at GE Software.

To maintain the iconic ecosystem of innovation that propels industrial revolutions will require the continuous fostering of young talent in STEM. Through GE’s collaboration with Girls Who Code, together we can offer career-focused mentorship programs for high school students, particularly girls, to choose these technical career paths. Growing the pipeline of women in research, science, and engineering presents an opportunity to fill available STEM positions and reduce the deficit of skilled technical talent.

Since opening in San Ramon in 2012, GE Software has hired more than 800 men and women - all with diverse backgrounds in math, computer science, engineering, data science, user design experience and much more. This highly technical workforce is aligned in their common pursuit of connecting the world of intelligent machines with people and data. These innovations promise to bring about a productivity revolution and advance industries as diverse as aviation, rail transportation, power generation, oil and gas development, and health care.

The 2014 Girls Who Code programs will run this summer in San Jose, San Francisco, San Ramon, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Seattle, Boston, New York City, and Miami. GE is one of 19 Summer Immersion Program partners nationwide along with Adobe, Amazon, AppNexus, AT&T, eBay, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, Google, Knight Foundation, IAC, Intel, Intuit, Microsoft, Square, Twitter, and Verizon.

Supporting Quotes:

"Girls Who Code was founded because we believe female engineers, entrepreneurs, and innovators are our future,” said Reshma Saujani, Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code. “Our Summer Immersion Program is designed to expose young women to the exciting world of computer science, and encourage them to lead the charge in growing the ranks of women in technology. We are honored that companies like GE continue to partner with us to make our vision a reality.”

“Our vision is to ignite the next industrial revolution bringing about profound transformation to global industry, and in turn to many aspects of daily life,” said Bill Ruh, vice president, GE Software. “To fully achieve this, we need diverse teams of men and women in STEM to apply their creativity and innovation to big iron. Our partnership with Girls Who Code aligns perfectly with our goal to attract and support women working in the STEM field - with 27 percent of female employees holding STEM jobs at GE Software.”

ABOUT GIRLS WHO CODE

Girls Who Code is a national nonprofit working to close the gender gap in technology. Through its Summer Immersion Program and Girls Who Code Clubs, the organization is leading the movement to inspire, educate, and equip young women with the computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities. Additional information is available at www.girlswhocode.com.

ABOUT GE

GE {NYSE: GE} works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.