Cynthia Jenkins, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of skillsgapp, a company that develops free-to-play mobile gaming apps that help middle and high school-aged+ youth achieve life-changing career awareness and localized pathway access, as well as develop the soft skills necessary to pursue jobs in skills-based industries through game-changing play, has announced a strategic partnership with the Girls Inc.'s Project Accelerate mentorship program, a pilot undertaken in Orange County, California.
The Girls Inc.'s Project Accelerate mentorship program seeks to close the gender equity gap by supporting young women through post-secondary education and networking into the workforce, ensuring that they can achieve influential leadership positions in the process.
Project Accelerate was funded by Equality Can't Wait, an initiative launched by Pivotal Ventures, Melinda Gates' investment and incubation enterprise, to expedite progress toward gender equality in the U.S. The initiative garnered additional support from Mackenzie Scott and The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, awarding $40 million to the organizations or coalitions of organizations offering the most compelling proposals to help expand women's empowerment and influence in the U.S. by 2030.
At the current rate of change, forecasts suggest that the U.S. will not achieve gender equity until the year 2227 – Melinda Gates was quoted as suggesting this was “a daunting number…but it's not destiny. The projection is based on the assumption that the pace of change will remain constant. That's why we need to act now to accelerate progress for women in the U.S. and ensure that we see gender equality in our lifetimes.”
Through Girls Inc.'s Project Accelerate scaling and sustaining the efforts of gender equity and women's empowerment through their programmatic distinction throughout college and career entry, their career trajectories are greater assured. Placing emphasis on Sciences, Technologies, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in particular, bolstered by partnerships with post-secondary institutions to ensure graduation and pairing young women with influential, supportive corporate advocates, can create lasting change, suggests Cynthia Jenkins, skillsgapp Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
“The opportunity to serve as an advocate for young women, specifically from marginalized communities who are profoundly under-represented in leadership positions, is an honor,” she stated.
“The outcomes that we hope to achieve are the same as those we hope to achieve at skillsgapp: Young women graduating on time; increasing networks of influence for marginalized populations of girls; and facilitating job-placement in well-compensated, meaningful positions. “
With 78 Girls Inc. affiliates operational across the U.S. and Canada (and growing), Project Accelerate aims to lift 7,500 diverse women into corporate positions of power and influence, shifting the equity landscape for generations.
“We start in Orange County,” added Cynthia Jenkins, “and then it's on to changing the world.”
ABOUT skillsgapp
Skillsgapp develops free-to-play mobile gaming apps that help middle and high school-aged+ youth achieve life-changing career awareness and localized pathway access, as well as develop the soft skills necessary to pursue jobs in skills-based industries through game-changing play.
To find out more about Project Accelerate, or skillsgapp's gamified skills development through mobile apps and much more, visit http://www.skillsgapp.com or contact us at 864.469.9340. To connect with Cynthia reach out at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthiapjenkins/
— WebWireID293389 —
