To all the teenage girls around the world…

Woman up! Get ready to show off your girl power! Because right now, I will introduce you to a breathtaking opportunity that you'd never wish to pass up! So brace yourself, you're in for a bumpy ride.

(To all the boys… Sorry for being sexist. And to all the girls who aren't teenager anymore… well, tough luck.)

Technovation Girls is an educational platform that aims to expose teen girls and young women to STEM fields and help them innovate through technology. Each year, girls aged 10-18 can participate in this competition; through brainstorming problems facing their communities and gaining other necessary skills regarding entrepreneurship and coding, they create mobile apps as solutions to the problems they attempt to address. Past Technovation Girls participants have tackled problems like domestic violence, climate change, bullying etc.

Now, if you're wondering (because I was wondering) whether you could actually compete in this challenge, since you don't know how to code, brainstorm or do any of the entrepreneurship hassle (believe me, it's a hassle. I know.), don't despair! You don't need to know everything at the beginning of the contest, not even programming languages! Technovation Girls have designed a twelve-week curriculum that has lessons about everything, i.e. step by step guide in ideation, coding and entrepreneurship. I've checked it out. It's really helpful and great!

To add a bit more spice to the competition, 10 teams will be selected to attend the world summit! Trips will be fully funded! Now I've got all your attention, haven't I?

Not only that, but regional winners would be picked out as well.

So let's start 'business' (ha). How could you join Technovation Girls?

Step 1: open up an account for yourself by visiting the website: https://technovationchallenge.org

(You should check out everything else in the website that I might have forgotten to mention before registering.)

If you're between 10-15, you will be part of the Junior Division Team. If you're above 15, you're in the Senior Division Team. You will also need to have parental consent from one of your guardian (if you're under 18): just type down your mum or dad's email, they will recieve an email with the consent form from Technovation Girls. 

Step 2: now that you're set to participate, you need to build your team! You can either join an existing team or build a team for yourself. Technovation Girls encourages you to go far past your boundaries- literally! You can team up with anyone and work with any girl around the world. I highly recommend you build a team with your classmates or friends. I also recommend you keep the number of members between 2-3. 

Having mentors are optional. But you should get one. You could choose from the thousands of mentors already engaged with the competition, or you could entry a person you know and want him/her to be your mentor (maybe your teacher, coach, friend, parent).

Step 3:

When you're done registering everyone and officially entried in the Technovation Girls, you're ready to work for your submission. Below, I've listed what you need to submit:

1. Pitch video

2. App name and 100 word description

3. Source code

4. 2-5 app screenshot

5. 5-page business plan (if you're in the senior division team)

6. Pitch presentation (only if attending a pitch event)

For more information in the submission guideline, please click on the following link:

https://technovationchallenge.org/submission-guidelines/

You should also check out the judging rubric that will be available here: 

https://technovationchallenge.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Technovation-Girls-2020-Rubric_FINAL.pdf

Note the key dates for this season: it's on the link for submission guidelines:

https://technovationchallenge.org/submission-guidelines/

The last date for submission is April 20 19:00 UTC. But the date to finalize every registration for your team is March 16, 2020. So hurry up! Create an absolutely marvelous mobile app for a devastating problem and shake the whole world!