Details
Mentors support teams of girls participating in the Technovation program. Mentors help their teams become leaders. They learn with their teams and help them problem solve, while also supervising girls through their journey. Mentors can be teachers, parents, after school coordinators, community leaders, or professionals.
Who can be a Technovation mentor?
Mentors support teams of girls participating in the Technovation Challenge. They help their teams become leaders. They learn with their teams and help them problem solve, while also supervising girls through their journey. Mentors can be teachers, parents, after school coordinators, community leaders, or professionals.
Do I need coding experience to be a mentor?
Nope! No coding or app development experience is expected, but it is imperative that you are willing to learn alongside your team. The most important thing is for you to be a consistent and supportive role model.
Who will I mentor?
Technovation mentors support a team of up to 5 middle or high school students.
What is expected of me as a mentor?
Each mentor guides a team of up to 5 girls as they develop a mobile app to address a problem in their community, develop a business plan, and pitch their startup. Mentorship typically requires 50-60 hours of commitment over the course of the season. In addition to overseeing your team as they complete the curriculum, mentors supervise students, coordinate meeting times, and ensure internet and computer access.
How long does Technovation last?
The official Technovation season runs between January and April, however, registration and team formation begins in October. Mentors are welcome to connect with a team as early as they are able to before the start of the official season. We recommend joining a team no later than January 30, so that you can support the girls in the curriculum by the end of February. The curriculum will take at least 12 weeks. Most teams take about 60 hours to complete it. The final submission date for Technovation 2019 is April 23, 2019.
What is the time commitment?
After you’ve connected with your team, you’ll want to to work with them to schedule a regular meeting time and place, whether in person or virtually. We recommend spending 2-4 hours a month with your team during October – December and at least 2-4 hours a week with the team January – April (60 hours total).
Are there special events for me to attend?
TechnovationMA offers coding and business workshops that you have the option to attend with your team throughout the season.
What are the benefits of being a Technovation mentor?
In addition to the satisfaction of inspiring girls to get involved in tech, past mentors overwhelmingly report that being a Technovation mentor helped them to expand their professional network, learn how to be an effective mentor, increase their knowledge about entrepreneurship, and/or increase or refresh their technical skills.
I’m interested. Does Technovation provide training for mentors?
Yes! Technovation offers free, optional, online, asynchronous mentor training that enables you to learn on your own time and to network with 1000+mentors from all over the world.
I have more questions. Can you help?
Of course. For general questions, email support@technovationchallenge.org. To sign up to be a mentor, visit the Technovation website.
For questions relating to TechnovationMA, email us locally at ruth@masstlc.org.