About

Hello, My name is Georgiana, I'm a sophomore at Shadow Mountain High School. Some of my hobbies include learning new languages and playing sports. This is my first year as WIT intern and I love the diverse perspectives.

Hi! My name is Isabella and I'm a senior at Paradise Valley High School - CREST focusing on Computer Science. I've been with WIT since my freshman year and am so excited to be a part of this sustainability internship! My hobbies include watching movies, listening to music, drinking boba, and thrifting. The SDG's I would like to focus on are Zero Hunger and Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.

Hello! My name is Sanika and I go to Paradise Valley High School in the CREST Computer Science Strand. I love painting, spending time with animals, listening to music, and hanging out with friends. I would like to focus on SDG's 14 and 15 which are Life below Water and Life on Land.

Hi, I'm Alexsandra, a junior at Shadow Mountain High School. Some of my favorite hobbies and activities include Volleyball and spending time with friends.

Hello! I'm Srishti and I'm a rising junior at PVHS. I enjoy badminton, dance, and piano. This year I would like to utilize bioinformatics and AI to focus on the SDG of Good Health and Well Being.

Hi! My name is Lilly, and I'm a junior at Pinnacle High School. I joined WIT in the summer of 2020. I love musical theatre, and my other hobbies include knitting, crocheting, and sewing! I want to learn more about sustainable fashion and focus on SDG 12: Responsible Production and Consumption.

Hello, I am a Senior at North Canyon High School and this is my first year in the WIT program. With WIT I have been involved with presentations. Outside of WIT I enjoy art, playing the violin, reading, learning new languages and enjoying my hobby with reptiles/amphibians. The SDGs I will be focusing on are life on land, and Climate action.

Hi! I am Aastha Mittal, I am a sophomore at Paradise Valley High School (CREST Computer Science). I have been involved in WIT for a year! My interests are in Computer Science and Math. Some of my hobbies are reading, biking, and spending time with my family and friends!

Hi! My name is Arushi Sharma, and I'm a rising senior at PVHS. I've been with WIT for almost a year and am so lucky to work with awesome interns and advisors! The SDG goal I'm most interested in exploring is #12: Responsible Consumption and Production. In my free time, I love to paint, dance, and play electric guitar.

Hi, my name is Katelin Portwood. I go to North Canyon High School and my hobbies are art and music.

Hello! I am a Senior at Paradise Valley High School and have been involved in WIT for 3 years. Through WIT I have been involved with CyberPatriots, presentations at several conference (AZ CIO/CTO, ASU Unconference 2019), as well as taking professional certification tests. Outside of Computer Science and Cyber Security, I enjoy adventuring in the outdoors, learning languages, and fostering kittens. The SDGs I will be focusing on are Good Health & Well-Being and Industry, Innovation, & Infrastructure.

Hello! I am a sophomore at Pinnacle High school and this is my first year with WIT. Some of my hobbies are drawing, painting and baking. Some SDG goals that I am interested in is Life on Land and Life below water.

Hi! My name is Jade Ochoa and I am a rising senior at Shadow Mountain High School. This is my first year with WIT and I have enjoyed learning about the SDGs and our planet. Some of my hobbies are playing the violin and playing tennis. My focus SDGs are Gender Equality and Quality Education.

My name is Anissa Vargas, I am a Junior at Shadow Mountain High school. This summer was my first time being a part of WIT. I do not have many hobbies besides reading, baking, and cooking. The SDG I am focusing on is Responsible Consumption and Production and Climate Action.

Hello! My name is Pranathi. I'm a sophomore at Pinnacle High School and this is my first year with WIT. Some of my hobbies include drawing, painting, and pondering about what the meaning of life is. The SDG's I would like to focus on are Gender Equality as well as Climate Action.

WIT (Women & Information Technology) was founded on post-secondary research and modeling suggesting that the most complex problems of the world will not be solved without diversity of perspectives. Our socio-economic-cultural framework was missing out on the ideas and solutions from about 50% of our species, women. As a current K12 IT Director, a former business owner and a life-long scientist this is well, silly.

When I looked at our own data in PV, a pattern of a lack of young women, girls, enrolled in upper courses that involved technical domains was evident. This bothered me - a national, indeed global, problem was very evident locally, in PV.

WIT was then founded with the intent to recruit, support and retain young women to pursue technical fields. I was and remain still confident that their pursuit of these domains will involve the fluency of of information technologies; computation, data, and networks.

The result of our pursuits are highlighted by the work ethic, intelligence and passion of these young women. How they are able to be so diligent and focused, embrace grit and yet be so compassionate to my generation and the world is beyond me.

I have learned much on this Journey and am thankful PV tackles the WIT challenge head on.

I have been involved in public education for the past 20+ years, and recently retired from PVUSD as a full-time elementary gifted educator. The past three years I have been one of the PVWIT advisors and have mentored the students in cybersecurity, Covid analysis and response, and now the U.N. SDG's. I love learning and also assisting these talented young women in achieving their goals now and in the future! Women and diverse perspectives will help solve global and local problems.

As a teacher, I began my involvement with WIT (Women & Information Technology) several years ago in conjunction with a Girls Who Code club at my school. I am very excited for the opportunity to become more involved in WIT now as a Technology Integration Facilitator for Secondary. I have learned so much from these amazing young women and look forward to seeing the great impacts they make on our world!