Programs: Grace Hopper Regional Consortium

The Grace Hopper Regional Consortium brings together students, academics and industry leaders to broaden the participation of women in computing.  Founded through a partnership of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI), ACM Women’s Council (ACM-W), the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) and funded by a three year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Grace Hopper Regional Consortium seeks to develop emerging technical leaders by creating and supporting local communities which meet at regional conferences.

Regional conferences—modeled after the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference–focus on the recruitment, retention, and advancement of technical women.  Regional participants have the opportunity build their networks, present individual and collaborative research, gain exposure to mid-senior level computing role models, develop mentoring relationships and explore a myriad of technical career paths.   Additionally, by expanding local technical communities, the Grace Hopper Regional Consortium allows students who do not have the resources to attend national conferences to obtain the skills, professional development and inspiration needed to achieve their technical vision.  By 2011, the Grace Hopper Regional Consortium will have added 12 new regional conferences to the existing network of regional support for women in computing.

Previous Regional Conferences

• Indiana Celebration of Women in Computing, Indiana, United States (2004, 2006, 2008)
• Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing, Ohio, United States (2005, 2007)
• MidWest Celebration of Women in Computing, Indiana (2006) & Illinois, United States (2009)
• Michigan Celebration of Women in Computing, Michigan, United States (2007, 2009)
• Colorado Celebration of Women in Computing, Colorado, United States (2008)

2010 Regional Conferences

• February 4-5  Indiana Celebration of Women in Computing, Spencer, Indiana
• February 12-13  MINNEWIC (Upper Midwest) Celebration of Women in Computing, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• February 25-26  Kentucky Celebration of Women in Computing, Gilbertsville, Kentucky
• November 4-5  Colorado Celebration of Women in Computing, Colorado
• November 12-13  South Carolina Celebration of Women in Computing, South Carolina
• October 14-15  New Mexico Celebration of Women in Computing, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• October 22-23 Ontario Celebration of Women in Computing, Kingston, Ontario Canada
Hosting a Regional Conference

The Grace Hopper Regional Consortium provides guidance and support for institutions interested in starting a regional conference or hosting an existing regional conference.  Scholarships are provided for faculty conference organizers to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference and the NCWIT Academic Alliance Meeting.  Scholarships are also provided for 2 poster session winners and a student conference coordinator to attend Grace Hopper.   If you are interested in getting more information about hosting a Regional Conference please contact us.

Grace Hopper Regional Consortium Advisory Board

Tracy Camp, CRA-W Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates & Professor of Computer Science, Colorado School of Mines

Joanne Cohoon, Senior Research Scientist, National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) & Assistant Professor of Science, Technology, and Society, University of Virginia

Teresa Dahlberg, Professor of Computer Science, UNC Charlotte, founding Director of the UNC Charlotte Diversity in Information Technology Institute & Director, STARS Alliance

Paula Gabbert, Project Leader, ACM-W & Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Furman University

Deanna Kosaraju, VP of Programs, Anita Borg Institute for Women & Technology

Lori Pollock, CRA-W Grad Cohort Program & Professor, Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Delaware

Lucy Sanders, CEO and Co-founder of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT)

Gloria Townsend, Professor of Computer Science, DePauw University

Elaine Weyuker, AT&T Fellow & Chair, ACM Women’s Council (ACM-W)

Telle Whitney, President and CEO, Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology