In Denver, Viasat employees work to get girls interested in STEM education

To encourage girls and young women to pursue careers in technology, Viasat partners with Denver’s Girls in STEM organization.

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For the past several years, Viasat Denver employees in the Women in Technology group have partnered with a growing organization called Girls in STEM. The idea is to get more girls and young women interested in the classes that can lead to success in technology fields — an area where women are under-represented.

Through site visits, lectures and other events, the women are finding a receptive audience in Denver-area schools. Female students see the potential for careers in technology at companies like Viasat, and the Girls in STEM members share a variety of information with them to help them on their way.

On March 15, Girls in STEM hosted an event titled “Likes, Tweets and Shares: Take Charge of Your Personal Brand” at the University of Denver. This event brought together high school girls from all over the Denver area who were looking to learn more about social media and power of establishing a presence online.

With a panel of professional women in front of them, including Viasat Business Systems Analyst Shelly Sousa, the girls were able to ask questions and hear how each professional had cultivated their personal brand. The women talked about how they were able to represent that personal brand on social media or just around their workplace — and use it to their advantage.

Hearing different professionals and young adults talk about their experiences with their own brands, the girls learned about an aspect of their future careers they may not have given much thought to before. A personal brand is all about maintaining enough confidence in yourself so that you don’t have to worry about anyone else establishing your brand for you. It’s about being in control of who you are, being authentic, and sharing what you value.

The panel of women, as well as the young girls who came out to learn that evening, were a great reminder of how far confidence in who you are can take you, and that a strong personal brand is something we should all work to achieve.