Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, will be the featured speaker for the 2018 TIAA Lecture. She will deliver remarks on campus at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, April 26, in the Popp Martin Student Union Movie Theater.
Girls Who Code is a national nonprofit organization that works to close the gender gap in technology and prepare young women for jobs of the future. In her groundbreaking book “Women Who Don’t Wait in Line,” Saujani advocates for a new model of female leadership focused on embracing risk and failure, promoting mentorship and sponsorship and boldly charting one’s own course — personally and professionally.
After years of working as an attorney, Saujani left her private-sector career and surged onto the political scene as the first Indian American woman in the country to run for U.S. Congress. Following the highly publicized race, she stayed true to her passion for public service, becoming deputy public advocate of New York City, and most recently running a spirited campaign for public advocate on a platform of creating educational and economic opportunities for women and girls, immigrants and those sidelined in the political process.
Saujani is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Yale Law School. She recently was named to CNBC’s Next List, Crain’s 40 Under 40, FORTUNE’s 40 Under 40, Forbes’ Most Powerful Women Changing the World, Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People, Ad Age’s Creativity 50 and Business Insider’s 50 Women Who Are Changing the World. She was recognized by the New York Daily News as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in New York, and the Wall Street Journal named her Technology Innovator of the Year and an AOL/PBS Next MAKER.
Fatma Mili, dean of the College of Computing and Informatics, will serve as moderator for the April 26 afternoon session. Registration is required.
The TIAA Lecture is an endowed event that features distinguished and notable speakers on a variety of topics. It is part of the UNC Charlotte Civic Series presented by Bank of America, which includes the annual Chancellor's Speaker Series and the Barnhardt Seminar on Ethics.