Social enterprise InnovateHer is celebrating a decade of operation and introducing more than 46,000 girls to technology.

From its origins as the Liverpool Girl Geeks through to the current iteration of InnovateHer, it has educated more than 19,500 via its schools’ programme.

The organisation has released its annual impact report, with its work to get girls into tech directly impacting 37,000 young people in 2022-23 through assemblies, webinars and training, an 804% increase year-on-year.  

Whilst there is still plenty of work to be done to level the playing field, with women only making up 24% of the tech workforce, the engagement with the industry at grassroots level is improving, with InnovateHer working with over 10,000 students through their schools programme this year. 

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In the programme, students have had the opportunity to learn about careers in tech, join mock interview days and attend job fairs. There has been a 20% uplift of students taking tech related subjects at GCSE in schools InnovateHer has partnered with.  

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This year, InnovateHer also launched a new job board, promoting opportunities with an average salary of £44.6k, which is £9k above the UK average for 30–39-year-olds.  

The InnovateHer partner community also grew in 2022-23, with 21 companies now working directly with the enterprise to improve their diversity and inclusion.   

Chelsea Slater, CEO and founder of InnovateHer said: “It’s mind-blowing to think that in the 10 years since I first had the idea of an enterprise to get girls into tech, we’ve reached over 46,000 students and worked with more than 50 companies to improve their diversity and inclusion. 

“And whilst the landscape has changed positively in that time, from doing this work, I’ve realised it takes serious investment, collaboration and Government backing to make the societal change we want to see. We need to be consistent, with a long-term commitment to making things better for women in tech, so that we can confidently steer girls into that career path from an early age.”

You can download the full InnovateHer social impact report here: https://www.innovateher.co.uk/social-impact-report/  

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