This is a guest blog post written by Avanade alum, Vikki Leach.

Last year Avanade celebrated its 15 year anniversary by launching its 15 for 15 Scholarship Program.  This program, officially titled The Avanade Scholarship Program, awards scholarships to young women who may otherwise not be able to continue their education. These scholarships enable them to attend university and study STEM.

The program is part of our global mission to help close the gender, technology and income gaps for women to empower, provide access and upskill women in the communities where Avanade has a presence. Part of a larger set of initiatives, this program in particular helps us support women who may not yet have joined the workforce, helping to increase the number of female students choosing to pursue STEM studies and STEM related careers.

Emphasizing the Importance of STEM for Women

The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines is an issue of concern all over the world as few women participate in these disciplines.  This is a complex issue and there is no single, simple answer.

At Avanade, we are working to encourage more women to consider a career in STEM. We strongly believe a greater emphasis on STEM education is at least a big part of the solution — it will help more women go into technology and succeed in this great field.

Our CEO Adam Warby’s support and dedication to our mission has made it a real possibility to positively impact the gender, technology and income gaps.

Avanade 15 for 15 Scholarship Program

We now have 15 young women going into their next year of education at University College of London in the United Kingdom, California Polytechnic State Institute in the United States and University of Pretoria in South Africa. In the first year these women had access to mentors, internships and the opportunity to attend Avanade’s annual Tech Summit where they met leaders, learned about the latest technology and participated in the exchange of new ideas.

We are thrilled to offer scholarships to an additional 15 women this coming year, broadening our footprint to include Shanghai University in China, New Jersey Institute of Technology in the US and Milan Polytechnic in Italy.

I’m delighted to be leading the corporate citizenship mission for Avanade.  It is a great privilege to demonstrate our commitment to opening doors for young women who may not have otherwise continued their education and ultimately choose a career in STEM. Read more about Avanade’s scholarship program here.

Take some time to view this great video of our first group of scholarship recipients: