Singularity University Blog — Feb 5, 2010 | Singularity University staff

This is a summary. Read original article in full here.

Demonstrating its commitment to a broader, women-focused initiative, Singularity University (SU) — the academic institution with the goal of preparing the next generation of leaders to address “humanity’s grand challenges” — recently became a Corporate Sponsor of She’s Geeky, a series of national technology unConferences for women. With the sponsorship, SU underscores its continued commitment to supporting and advancing women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), as well as raising awareness among young women about the STEM “cool factor.” SU kicked off its sponsorship with the She’s Geeky unConference held on January 26, 2010 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif.

“During the past decade, some of the most significant advancements and job opportunities have come from the STEM fields,” said Susan Fonseca-Klein, VP of Operations and Founding Architect at Singularity University. “This growth is accelerating, and is expected to do so through this decade and beyond. With She’s Geeky, SU has the opportunity to support women as they create and harness the latest innovations. We can also encourage young women’s interest and education in STEM fields, showing them that being a ‘geek’ can lead to a better and brighter future — like Marissa Mayer as the first female engineer at Google. Geek really is the new black, as they say.”

She’s Geeky hosts unConferences across the US to give women in STEM technologies an opportunity to get together to learn from each other, and discuss the unique issues they face in their respective fields. Following the successful and well-attended Bay Area conference in January 2010, additional conferences are planned throughout 2010.

“This sponsorship is just the first formal step in our initiative to support women in technology. In Singularity University’s inaugural year, women represented over a third of the Executive and summer Graduate Studies Programs, respectively,” added Fonseca-Klein. “As we continue progress on our initiative, we fully expect to increase those numbers, and expand our engagement with the women in technology community.”