Feel Good Friday - Share Meals

As we prepare to share Thanksgiving meals with family and friends next week, it's a good time to spotlight Share Meals, an organization working to ensure college students don't have to choose between paying for their education and paying for food.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in New York City, the mission of Share Meals is to ensure all college students are food secure while empowering them to strengthen their own communities through sharing food. This is accomplished through technology, activism, and advocacy. 

The organization began when founder Jonathan Chin, then an NYU graduate student, saw a post on the Facebook page "NYU Secrets" from a student who had run out of meal swipes and couldn't afford food. Within 24 hours, Chin coded a solution that would connect students. You can see him talk about the origins of Share Meals in this video.

College student hunger affects approximately 40% of students nationwide at some point during their academic careers. The financial pressures of tuition, housing, textbooks, and living expenses often leave students making impossible choices that impact their ability to focus in class and stay enrolled.

Share Meals addresses this through several programs. The Share Meals app serves as a digital platform where students can donate unused meal swipes to peers experiencing food insecurity. Many college meal plans include "swipes"—prepaid meals that students access by swiping their ID cards at campus dining halls. Unused swipes expire and the app enables students to donate swipes to peers before that happens. The app also allows students to post information about free food available from campus events—all in real-time based on location.

Other programs include Open Kitchen, offering community cooking classes where students learn to prepare affordable, healthy meals together, and Packathon events where students package meals for distribution.

Share Meals now operates on over 400 university campuses across the United States, helping more than 15,000 students and facilitating thousands of shared meals. In 2021, the app assisted 4,000 food-insecure NYU students in just one semester.

If you'd like to support Share Meals, there are many ways to do so. Make a donation and amplify their message on social media. Follow Share Meals on Instagram or LinkedIn and subscribe to their YouTube channel. Happy Thanksgiving!

Feel Good Friday - Latinitas

We continue our celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month with a look at an organization that is inspiring confidence and empowering community, Latinitas.

Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, the mission of Latinitas is to “empower girls and their communities through culturally relevant education.” They focus on STEAM education (science, technology, engineering, arts and math), digital equity, career exploration, and economic opportunity.

Let’s start with culturally relevant education. It’s designed to connect to the lives, identities and aspirations of the students and their families. The curriculum encourages students to engage with the topics and see themselves in the stories. Role models who are professionals with similar backgrounds inspire success and create an environment for girls to build confidence, develop leadership skills, and explore creative career pathways.

There are a number of educational programs that Lantinitas runs. Club Latinitas is an afterschool program focusing on technology, digital media, culture and identity, open to girls ages 9-14. During the summers, this age group can attend Camp Latinitas where every week there is a new theme such as architecture, engineering and fashion design. 14-18 years old can learn the programming language Python in eight weeks by attending the free, virtual program Code Chica. Families can participate in the multi-generational programming which covers digital literacy and workforce readiness. There are also a variety of one-day Chica Conferences where technology and media are used as tools to explore careers, and Latinitas Magazine, the first digital magazine made by and for young Latinas.

These programs are attended by approximately 3,000 girls across Texas every year. In the 2023-2024  year, there was an 87.5% growth in enrollment in Club Latinitas, 220  girls attended the Chica Conferences, Camp Latinitas had 3528 impact hours and the multi-generational programs had 1167 hours of impact.

If you’d like to help empower Latinitas across Texas there are many ways to do so. Texans reading this post can volunteer. The rest of us can make a monetary donation and amplify this work on social media. Follow Latinitas on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn and subscribe to their YouTube channel.

Feel Good Friday - Lesbians Who Tech & Allies

If you’ve noticed more rainbows than usual this week that’s because June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Pride Month. That makes today a perfect day to learn about Lesbians Who Tech & Allies.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, the mission of Lesbians Who Tech & Allies (LWT) is "to reach pay equity and representation at every level, for women, women of color, and nonbinary leaders.” With a global community of over 110,000 LGBTQIA+ women, trans and nonbinary individuals, and allies, they are the largest LGBTQIA+  technology community in the world!

LWT programs are designed to ensure these leaders have the skills and support they need to achieve success. These programs include the Edie Windsor Coding Scholarship Fund, which provides coding scholarships for non-binary and LGBTQIA+ women, and a Squad Leadership Program that supports members moving into senior leadership roles and onto corporate boards. There’s also a job board where companies can post openings and techies can look for work.

Another big focus Lesbians Who Tech are the summits held in San Francisco and New York. The 5th annual Pride Summit in San Francisco takes place June 11 - 13. The agenda  is packed with presentations and networking opportunities. Best of all it’s virtual and FREE! Find more information and register here.

The New York Summit takes place in person September 17 - 20. If you’re interested in going but unsure you can get approval, LWT provides a letter template called Convince Your Boss, which you can download and modify before sharing with your employer.

If you’re not able to attend one of the upcoming summits, there are still many ways you can help LWT promote equity, visibility and intersectionality in the tech world. Volunteer your time, shop for merch and spread the love on social media. Like the Lesbians Who Tech & Allies Facebook page and follow them on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Feel Good Friday - Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship

Happy Feel Good Friday from Jordan! In anticipation of being off the grid during my travels, I wrote and scheduled some Jordan-related posts before I left, including this one about the Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship.

Established in 2004, the Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship (QRCE) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping develop technology entrepreneurship in Jordan.

The four areas of focus for the center are:

• Networking - connecting entrepreneurs so they can share their experience and knowledge
• Recognition and awareness - highlighting innovative technology startups and identifying potential opportunities
• Capacity building and support - providing training, mentoring and support services to help entrepreneurs establish and expand their technology companies
• Funding - providing assistance with fundraising during the initial funding and early growth stages

Examples of the QRCE programs include: a monthly startup huddle, where entrepreneurs can pitch ideas and discuss challenges and solutions; an annual competition where university students identify technology solutions for challenges in Jordanian society; and Global Entrepreneur Week, connecting young people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators.

In the last 15 years, over 30,000 people have participated in networking activities, 4,000 attended bootcamps and training workshops, 300 jobs were created and 25 startups were founded. You can read about successful program alumnae at this link.

To learn more and spread the word about the work being done in Jordan, like the QRCE Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @QRCE.

Feel Good Friday - TechWomen

Last week, Autodesk hosted opening day for the TechWomen emerging leaders program. I had the opportunity to be a part of it and want to share the work of the organization and my experience in today's Feel Good Friday.

As explained on their website, "TechWomen empowers, connects and supports the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East by providing them the access and opportunity needed to advance their careers, pursue their dreams, and inspire women and girls in their communities." You can watch this video for a good overview of the program.

An initiative of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the first program took place in 2001 with 37 women participating. This year's group includes 100 women from 20 different countries.

The women will participate in project-based mentorships at Bay Area companies, attend professional development workshops and networking events and wrap up the five-week program in Washington D.C. During their time in the Bay Area, they'll also have a cultural mentor who will take them to local attractions, cultural events and community service opportunities.

The women I met last Friday came from a variety of countries and worked in different STEM fields. When I asked one woman what she thought of her day at Autodesk, she said she felt "like Alice in Wonderland". I also met a woman from Kyrgyzstan who was shocked when I told her I had been to her country and was able to have a very short exchange with her in Krygyz.

All the women will return to their countries when the program is finished to share what they've learned and start projects of their own. You can click this interactive map to see how participants from previous years are affecting positive change in their communities.

If you like what TechWomen is doing, there are many ways to get involved. You can become a mentor, convince your company to host an event or show your support by liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter @TechWomen.

Feel Good Friday - Girls Who Code

We start today's Feel Good Friday with some statistics that don't feel good. "In middle school, 74% of girls express interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), but when choosing a college major, just 0.3% of high school girls select computer science."

This info comes from Girls Who Code, an organization formed in New York in 2012 that works "to inspire, educate, and equip girls with the computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities."

During the academic year, their nationwide clubs offer computer science education and tech industry exposure to girls from 6th to 12th grade.

For the last two summers they've operated a Summer Immersion Program. As they explain on their website, it's "seven weeks of intensive instruction in robotics, web design, and mobile development with engaging, career-focused mentorship and exposure led by the industry's top female entrepreneurs and engineers." For girls in the Bay Area, this year's programs are taking place at Intuit, Facebook, eBay, Twitter and Square to name a few.

One of the statistics that Girls Who Code reported after the program in 2013 is that "99% of participants said they are considering pursuing a career in technology and 81% definitely intend to do so."  You go, girls!


You can get more information in this short article from PC Mag and since they are a technology focused organization, the best way to stay in touch is by using technology! Like their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter @GirlsWhoCode. I've managed to do it and I was a Sociology major!