One of the things we hold dear at GamingAngels.com, is volunteering and mentoring others. Specifically we hope to help women and young girls decide to follow a career in tech or gaming industry.  A few months ago, I volunteered at a Step Up Mentorship event where I was paired with a 9th grader. She loved GA and she has some huge ambitions of her own. I was very impressed.

I was the only woman from the tech world, so it was very important for me to be there. I spoke to all the girls about a career in tech, about the importance of their online persona/social networks, and what jobs there are in tech. Many had no idea that what they do in social networking could actually be a job! Or web design. They thought those were just fun things to do.

It's very important to give back where and when you can! Because I don't have a job currently, I can't travel for talking opportunities, but we hope to continue to highlight women in games and tech on GA and encourage others on that path. 

When was the last time you volunteered?

Awesome topic. I do a lot of informal mentoring, but not formal mentoring as part of a program. I have a web development background and when I was learning that there were no other women, just me. So it is really important for me to share. Women definitely succeed when they share knowledge.

I used to belong to a group called WebGrrls but they collapsed, unfortunately. I had actually dropped out of college to start my own consulting business (many) years ago and now I am finally finishing up my undergrad. So this is where I have created my informal mentoring space. I learn a lot from these young women too!

At work we have a women's group and while it is business/corporate oriented, rather than tech, there is still a lot of knowledge to share. We had the lucky fortune of having Gale Evans who wrote Play like a Man, Win like a Woman come to speak to our group. One of the biggest takeaways from her was about using the Language of Success. We don't realize it but oftentimes the words we choose make us unheard and invisible or gives the wrong impression. For example, describing someone as hardworking vs strategic.

At any rate, I'm reading a book called "How to Say it for Women" by Phyllis Mindell, PhD. Very enlighting and I would totally recommend it.

I will definitely check out Girls in Tech. There isn't a chapter here in the Twin Cities. I don't have time right now to dedicate to create one (gotta finish that degree!), but I know a lot of other women here who might be interested. There are a couple of women who run an interactive agency here call Clockwork. They run a web site called http://www.geekgirlsguide.com/. I'll let them know!

Most of my volunteering now is more realted to my school and in the health care realm. Gotta keep those bodies healthy in order to keep playing! I have volunteered at health and wellness fair and making "hugs" for the soldiers to keep them cool in the hot hot summer, giving swine flu shots. I am going to submit an applicationt o volunteer at Shriner's hospital next week. School has really made that side of me come out, and I love it. :)