OpenView Venture Partners and Code.org Team Up to Bring Hour of Code™ to Science Club for Girls During Computer Science Education Week

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS (PRWEB) December 07, 2015 — OpenView Venture Partners, the leading expansion-stage B2B software venture capital firm, will host an hour-long coding workshop for Code.org’s third-annual Hour of Code, a campaign aimed at increasing global participation in computer science, during Computer Science Education Week. Through a partnership with Science Club for Girls, a non-profit organization, which guides elementary school girls in STEM field exploration and provides high school students with STEM-based mentorship and internships, OpenView continues its commitment to promoting diversity in the Boston tech community and beyond.

To date, more than 100 million students across 180 countries and 40 languages have participated in the Hour of Code, including one in three students in US schools. This year, the campaign expects to exceed 100,000 events during Computer Science Education Week in the hope of introducing girls and underrepresented students to the field of computer science.

“OpenView has a long-standing commitment to enriching the Boston and national tech ecosystems,” said Scott Maxwell, Founder and Managing Partner at OpenView. “We believe diversity breeds success and introducing underrepresented students to technical fields like computer science will impact our community for years to come.”

“The Hour of Code is designed to demystify code and show that computer science is not rocket-science, anybody can learn the basics,” said Hadi Partovi, founder and CEO of Code.org. “Over 100 million students worldwide have tried an Hour of Code. The demand for relevant 21st century computer science education crosses all borders and knows no boundaries.”

“Partnering with OpenView allows us to support the Hour of Code and is yet one more way we can provide STEM opportunities to our members,” said Lydia Peabody, Youth Program Director at Science Club for Girls. “Currently, women earn only 18% of undergraduate information science degrees and represent just 25% of the computer science workforce. The industry is missing out on a huge pool of talent and women are missing out on high-paying jobs. Hour of Code creates a safe space for girls to explore computer science. Opportunities like this where girls can interact with female role models and experience the creativity of coding are essential to encouraging girls to consider careers in computer science.”

OpenView’s participation in the annual Hour of Code event builds on the firm’s commitment to fostering diversity within the tech community. Earlier this year, OpenView announced an historic partnership with Startup Institute, the leader for education in the innovation economy. As one of the nation’s leading career accelerators, Startup Institute aims to promote diversity within the startup ecosystem, provide its students with expert training in the most in-demand skills and instill in them the cultural awareness needed to thrive in a startup environment. To date, 41% of Startup Institute students have been women and 35% students of color.

You can learn more about Code.org’s third-annual Hour of Code here.

About Code.org
Code.org is a 501c3 public non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. Its vision is that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer programming. After launching in 2013, Code.org organized the Hour of Code campaign – which has introduced over 100 million students to computer science to date – and partnered with 70 public school districts nationwide to expand computer science programs. Code.org is supported by philanthropic donations from corporations, foundations and generous individuals, including Microsoft, Infosys Foundation, USA, The Ballmer Family Giving, Omidyar Network and others. For more information, please visit: code.org.

About Science Club for Girls
Science Club for Girls (SCFG) has been providing free, fun after school programs for girls in STEM for over 20 years; what began as one kindergarten club in 1994 is now serving more than 1,000 girls in grades K-12 annually in Boston, Cambridge, Newton, Brookline and Lawrence, led by over 200 volunteer mentor scientists. Over 70% of SCFG participants come from racial or socio-economic backgrounds that are underrepresented in STEM fields. SCFG’s mission is to “foster excitement, confidence, and literacy in STEM for girls, particularly from underrepresented communities, by providing free, experiential programs and by maximizing meaningful interactions with women mentors in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.” For more information, please visit scienceclubforgirls.org.

About OpenView Venture Partners
OpenView Venture Partners is an expansion-stage B2B software venture capital firm with nearly $700 million in total capital under management. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Boston, MA, OpenView provides its portfolio with value-add services through OpenView Labs. Programs range from recruiting to market research and marketing and sales strategy. For more information, visit openviewpartners.com.