Community Convenes to Honor 54 Young Women with Bright Futures in Technology

SOUTHFIELD, June 30, 2022 – Forty-three scholarship recipients and three teams of women who won the Girls Solve IT challenge convened along with their supporters to celebrate their technology skills and promising futures. The Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation event, held June 22, inspired attendees and turned the spotlight on the next generation helping to close the gender disparity gap in technology.

Each year, MCWT offers scholarships to help students ease the financial burden of college, awarding them to women with the interest, aptitude and potential for a successful career in technology. The women will pursue degrees that will prepare them for future careers in areas such as computer science, robotics, data science engineering, cyber security and software engineering. MCWT has awarded $1.7 million in scholarships for 227 women since 2002.  

MCWT’s 2022 Girls Solve IT competition, sponsored by Ford Motor Co., is an interactive, statewide robotics competition for girls in grades 5-8 to complete technology quests for the chance to win cash prizes and awards. The 2022 winning teams included:   

– 1st Place – Team Ereh Yeager: Natalliya Griffith, Nalah Stafford, LeAjah Turner, Nylah Williams and Mariyah Wright with coach Rebecca Domegan from Ypsilanti 

– 2nd Place – Team Saline E-Bots: Quinn Myers, Alisha Sachdeva and Julia Straw with coach Chris Myers from Saline 

– 3rd Place – Team Misty Pearl Mermaids: Samantha Hernandez Ho, Isabel Kridner and Eloise Meinhart with coach Ivette Hernandez from Canton, Michigan. 

The recognition event, sponsored by Comerica Bank, gathered about 100 virtual and in-person attendees at Comerica’s Technology Center in Auburn Hills. Isabella Kart, returning scholarship recipient and student at Central Michigan University provided remarks, reinforcing the importance for these young women to continue persevering and harnessing their confidence.   

“Being a woman in tech is hard sometimes; people don’t expect that I have all the knowledge or experience with computers that I do,” Kart said. “Sometimes this is disheartening, but it makes me want to work hard. I’m confident in myself and I know I can handle whatever they throw at me…at least with some research.” 

Businesses have a stake in building a strong talent pipeline for technology and it showed with their sponsorship support of this year’s MCWT scholarship program. Many of these company employees volunteer their time and talents to help MCWT administer the program and mentor the young women as they continue their tech educational journey. These sponsoring companies include Ally, Amerisure, BorgWarner, Consumers Energy, Dow, FastTek, General Motors, Little Caesars, Victoria “Katie” Sweet Memorial Fund, Masco, NTT Managed Services, SIM Detroit, Stellantis, Thirdware, VectorForm, X by 2 and Yazaki.   

The Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation strives to inspire and grow girls and women in technology fields, with a vision to make Michigan the No. 1 state for women in technology. The organization supports Michigan’s female IT workforce, students, corporate partners, schools and the overall community with networking, learning, mentoring, and technology experiences for professionals and students. Find more information at www.mcwt.org and connect via Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. 

Editor’s note: Scholarship recipient list is below. 

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2022 MCWT Scholarship Recipients 

Each recipient is paired with a mentor who meets throughout the year with the scholar to support her as she navigates her academic years. MCWT’s 2022 scholarship recipients, representing 10 colleges and universities throughout Michigan, include: 

– Friends of MCWT Foundation Scholarship: Breanna Krywko (Waterford Township), Rebekah Lim (Ann Arbor), Ritika Parikh (Canton) Katherine White (Midland) 

– Ally Scholarship: Lena Elkoussy (Dearborn), Hajirah Nadeem (Ypsilanti) 

– Amerisure Scholarship: Katherine Guthrie (Delton), Natalie Hilliker (Belmont) 

– Borg Warner Scholarship: Madison Connell (Commerce Township), Julia Tauro (Novi), Christine Zeng (Sterling Heights) 

– Consumers Energy Scholarship: Nikitha Chittela (Canton), Anne George (Novi), Poulami Sau (Canton), Sreeja Vemulakonda (Canton) 

– Dow Scholarship: Evelyn Bender (Alpena), Katherine Perry (Midland)   

– FastTek Global Scholarship: Mia Cusenza (Grandville) 

– General Motors Scholarship: Isabela Kart (Bay City), Regan McDonald (Grosse Pointe Farms), Nina Moyski (Northville) 

– Little Caesars Scholarship: Annika Price (Saint Joseph), Samantha Scott (Iron Mountain) 

– MASCO Scholarship: Nuri Hannan (Detroit), Priyal Shah (West Bloomfield), Alyssa Taylor (Roscommon), Sumedha Vadlapudi (Novi)  

– NTT Managed Services Scholarship: Arsha Ali (Troy), Aishwarya Arvind (Troy), Linda Weng (Novi), 

– SIM Detroit Scholarship: Naamna Modi (Canton), Divya Singhal (Northville) 

– Stellantis Scholarship: Leiya Rybicki (Freeland), Savannah Barnes (East Lansing) 

– Thirdware Scholarship: Jessica Messing (Freeland) 

– Vectorform Scholarship: Alexandra Bannon (Boyne City), Mariam Mahmoud (Ann Arbor) 

– X by 2 Scholarship: Hanna Halstead (West Bloomfield) 

– Yazaki Scholarship: Hafsa Sultana (Farmington Hills), Lisa Tauro (Novi), Praseedha Vinukonda (Canton)  

– Victoria “Katie” Sweet Memorial Scholarship: Jordan Doyle (Troy)   

– Riya Bhakkad Memorial Scholarship: Aarushi Singh (Canton)