Growing Women in STEM with Cassidy Williams

Why aren't there more women and girls working in industries that allow them to change the world? Our guest is Cassidy Williams, and she is doing her part to change the equation.

Cassidy Williams, AdvisHer

Cassidy Williams is a computer programmer and computer science senior at Iowa State University, scheduled to graduate in May 2014.

She has worked at a variety of companies including Intuit, Microsoft, and General Mills and plans to work on the front end in web or mobile development.

She co-created AdvisHer to help other girls get started in the STEM industries (science, technology, engineering, and math). The online community leverages the power of pipeline programs to advise, advocate, and accelerate women in STEM related jobs around the world.

The project won a hackathon as part of British Airways' UnGrounded -- the first innovation lab in the sky, designed to connect industry leaders and creative minds for the purpose of tackling challenges that affect the next generation of global innovators. Cassidy was a member of Team Altitude, who were assigned the challenge of how to foster women in STEM positions... on one flight from San Francisco to London.

She is also a public speaker and has addressed audiences at events like the National Center for Women & IT Summit, the U.S. Department of Labor's Diversity in Tech event, the IINSPIRE (Iowa-Illinois-Nebraska STEM Partnership for Innovation in Research and Education) conference, TEDxDesMoines, and even at the United Nations.