Google announces 2013 RISE Award Recipients

• Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) | Nigeria

W.TEC is a Nigerian non-governmental organisation working to empower girls and women socially and economically, using information and communication technologies (ICTs). They run a tech camp for Nigerian girls age 11-22, followed by monthly workshops, mentoring and alumni network.

• Working to Advance African Women Foundation (WAAW) Nigeria

WAAW Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the pipeline of African girls STEM and CS related fields, and work to ensure that this female talent is engaged in innovation for the African continent. They train volunteer university graduates to run STEM outreach programmes in high schools in Abuja to raise awareness of CS education.

• iLab Liberia Liberia

Operating in Monrovia, iLab provides access to cutting-edge technology, expert IT assistance and a community of individuals leveraging technology for the good of the country. The goals of iLab include giving young Liberian women access to computer programming classes and professional growth resources, provide quality instruction as well as equipment curriculum and internet connectivity, and introduce Liberians with an IT interest to various career paths in the field beyond basic networking and hardware repair.

• Ghana Robotics Academy Foundation (GRAF) | Ghana

The mission of GRAF is to design accessible and innovative programs that will excite and motivate young Ghanaians to pursue careers in science, technology and engineering, build self-confidence, knowledge and life skills. They run a programme for girls and students from socio-deprived areas to learn giving them the opportunity to work alongside professional engineers to design, build and program robots to solve real world problems.

Google’s RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Awards are designed to promote and support Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) and Computer Science (CS) education initiatives. The program funds and supports organizations around the world that provide science and technology education at a grassroots level. Google believes that technology will continue to play an important role in shaping our future, and the youth of today will help innovate and drive these technologies for years to come. 

Winners of the Google RISE awards each get between US$5,000 to US$25,000 to continue their outreach initiatives.

In all, 30 organisations from 18 countries have been awarded by Google via its RISE programme. Announcing the winners today on the Google blog, education outreach specialist Roxana Shirkhoda said that, combined, these 30 organisations will reach out to more than 90,000 children in 2013 to help inspire the scientists and engineers of the future.