Applications are now open for Do Space’s most recent fellowship program which will offer selected fellows the opportunity to develop projects that will address local challenges facing women in technology and tech entrepreneurship.
“We will be seeking out three fellows, all of whom will be women or femme identified individuals. Each fellow will receive a $10,000 stipend for participating in the fellowship,” said Rebecca Stavick, Executive Director of Do Space. “It’s for women in tech and women who are into tech entrepreneurship.”
The Do Space Women Innovators Fellowship is a self-directed educational experience that will give Fellows the opportunity to build a portfolio of work, exercise leadership skills, and become more competitive in the workplace.
An all-female Advisory Board of Omaha leaders in business and technology will provide the Fellows with advice, connections, and mentorship––generously sponsored by Dr. James and Karen Linder.
Each selected project will ideally provide real benefit to Omaha’s innovation and creative communities, in part by raising awareness of local challenges and fostering a sense of community.
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“What can we build to help boost the number of women in tech? What can we do to help boost women in leadership in those fields?” said Stavick. “There are some really specific challenges that we face locally in those fields, so this fellowship is all about identifying ways that we can improve as a community and then investing in people who are going to come up with solutions.”
According to statistics provided by Do Space, women are underrepresented in a wide variety of technical roles:
- Women hold 24% of Omaha’s tech jobs.
- The average tech industry female-to-male earnings ratio is 85%.
- In 1984, 37% of computer science majors were women. That percentage fell to 18% by 2014.
Women are also underrepresented in business:
- 1 in 5 C-suite leaders is a woman; fewer than 1 in 30 is a woman of color.
- Women founders received 2.2% of all U.S. venture capital dollars in 2017.
- 70% of startups say they have no women on their boards.
Stavick said that the worlds of tech and entrepreneurship are varied and diverse. Women and femme-identified individuals from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply, including students, retirees, freelancers, part-timers and full-timers working in tech or other industries.
“There are probably a lot of women in town who might be techy or have a lot of passion for entrepreneurship, but they might not define themselves as a woman in tech or they don’t think of themselves as an entrepreneur,” said Stavick. “I want those people to apply anyway. […] If people are interested in applying, don’t hold yourself back.”
For more information on applying for the Do Space Women Innovators Fellowship, visit dospace.org/fellowship.
