Newark's Logitech Teams With Non-Profit To Close Tech Gender Gap

NEWARK, CA — With only 24 percent of the world’s working computer scientists being women, a Newark-based technology company has partnered with an international not-for-profit to close the gender gap in tech jobs over the next several years and introduce more women into the workspace.

Logitech, the Swiss-American company that has its U.S. headquarters in Newark, is collaborating with Girls Who Code to inspire women to find a passion for engineering and creativity with a new coding program, the two organizations announced Wednesday. The number of female computer scientists has dropped significantly since 1997, when 37 percent of those working in the field were women, according to Girls Who Code.

Over the next two years, both Logitech and Girls Who Code will work together to provide educational and career opportunities for women to introduce more females into a workforce to create and build technology, according to a news release issued this week.

“Logitech’s Master series is a collection of advanced tools, including products and software, designed and developed to help the builders of tomorrow — creators and coders,” Delphine Donne-Crock, general manager of creativity and productivity at Logitech, said in the release. “As we integrate technology into our daily lives now more than ever before, Logitech looks forward to contributing to the overall development, empowerment and success of the future leaders in Girls Who Code programs.”

Logitech announced it will sponsor a Girls Who Code immersion program, host virtual seminars and other events for students as well as provide internships for girls and women who want to explore the tech world as a career, officials said. To support the initiative, Logitech announced it will donate an amount of global sales in its Master Series products to provide funding for its partnership with Girls Who Code.

"Girls Who Code is on a mission to close the gender gap in tech and change the image of what a programmer looks like and does—that work would not be possible without the support of partners like Logitech," Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, said in the news release. "We're grateful for their allyship in this space and look forward to working together to bring more girls and young women into technology."