The consortium of post-secondary institutions and companies funded by Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster is halfway to its goal of supporting 500 women in technology
Vancouver, B.C. — Athena Pathways (athenapathways.org) is a B.C.-based consortium, supported by an investment from Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster, with a goal of helping 500 B.C. women in the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science. Their aim is to draw more talent into the B.C. technology ecosystem while addressing the substantial gender gap that exists within these fields. On International Women’s Day and after just 14 months of operation, Athena Pathways has now reached the milestone of having helped 250 women enter or advance within these fields. This was accomplished through their three pathways: education, employment and mentorship.
Through education, Athena Pathways has provided over 100 scholarships of $500 each to women taking select courses and workshops at partnering academic institutions: British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Northeastern University-Vancouver, Simon Fraser University (SFU), and University of British Columbia (UBC). The participants also received a sizable grant from Microsoft allowing them to take select Microsoft Azure courses for free.