14 DAY TRIAL // Motorola and the Motorola Foundation announced on Thursday the launch of the sixth annual Global Marathon, a worldwide event that will take place on March 10-11, and which is meant to connect women and girls from six continents who are willing to engage in a continuous conversation on engineering. The company also revealed that that kick-off event was held at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium and Museum and that more than 150 women and girls were present there.
The keynote speaker was Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, the leading telecommunications solutions provider stated. At the same time, the company added that Leslie Jones, chief information officer for Motorola, and Eileen Sweeney, director of the Motorola Foundation, held presentations on the way in which women can impact business innovation through science and technology.
Motorola will not only sponsor the Global Marathon, but it will also: - Sponsor a three-part Android applications series that will teach participants how to first come up with a great idea for an app, then how to develop the app and, finally, how to protect and market it. - Sponsor an event in India for middle school students that will raise awareness about education and professional opportunities in STEM. It specifically will target students in underprivileged schools in Bangalore to showcase potential options for continuing beyond tenth grade, when free education stops in India. - Host a live, interactive conversation with Eileen Sweeney, director of the Motorola Foundation, and Ruthe Farmer, director of strategic initiatives for the National Center for Women & Information Technology, to focus on the social and business benefits of bringing women into engineering and to recap key learnings from the 24 hours of the Global Marathon. The initiative is part of Motorola's commitment to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. The company works with FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) for offering students the possibility to learn more on engineering and technology. The Global Marathon is also sponsored by The National Engineers Week Foundation, and is focused on showing how women's work on engineering results in valuable innovations.
“Motorola, the Motorola Foundation and our employees around the world are thrilled to be a part of such an exciting and important global initiative,” said Eileen Sweeney, director of the Motorola Foundation. “The Global Marathon is a shining example of an educational program that is transforming young women’s perception of science and engineering and is helping to lay the groundwork for future educational and career opportunities.”