Press Release
Oakland, CA – Techbridge Girls (TBG), a STEM education non-profit organization, has welcomed Savita Raj as its new CEO.
Savita comes to Techbridge Girls with decades-long experience in leadership, strategy, and fundraising focused on creating equitable STEM programs in underserved communities. Most recently, Savita served as the Chief Executive Officer at BootUp Professional Development, where she led the organization in its mission of delivering equitable computer science programs in underserved communities.
An engineer by training, Savita has also served as the Chief Program Officer for Girl Scouts of the USA and as the Executive Director for the Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering.
“The Board welcomes Savita to the leadership team. She is a dynamic non-profit leader, and we look forward to working with her as we strengthen and expand our mission and purpose,” said Alysia Green, Chair, Techbridge Girls Board of Directors and General Manager of Information Technology Engineering at Chevron. “Her passion and commitment to equity will drive our work serving and inspiring young girls of color across the country.”
Techbridge Girls designs, builds and delivers inclusive, culturally-aware STEM professional development and curriculum to be used in out-of-school time (OST) STEM education programs. By training educators, institutions, and STEM professionals across the country to become advocates through innovative training and curricula, TBG is creating a future in STEM that promotes access, belonging and persistence for as many girls as possible.
“It’s a privilege to have this opportunity to lead Techbridge Girls, an organization that I have long admired and respected,” said Savita Raj. “Not only has TBG’s pedagogy shaped how I developed STEM programs throughout my career, it shapes every person who engages with our programing. Most importantly, we are creating a sense of belonging and inclusion as we prepare girls to be innovative leaders in STEM.”
Founded nearly 25 years ago in California, Techbridge Girls has grown into a national non-profit working directly with educators and institutions that have the power to disrupt inequitable systems that marginalize girls of color in STEM. In a recent survey, 97% of participating educators reported gaining an increased knowledge of how bias affects youth in educational settings. And 95% said the TBG training helped them gain more confidence teaching diverse STEM histories that center the contributions of Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
“Techbridge Girls’ work brings meaningful STEM experiences that broaden the imagination of future innovators and visionaries ,” said Juleyka Lantigua, Techbridge Board of Directors member and Founder and CEO of LWC Studios. “Savita Raj’s career and leadership have prepared her with the knowledge, skills, and capacious vision to usher Techbridge Girls into an expansive future that strengthens its role among leaders in STEM education.”
*Techbridge Girls serves Black, Brown, Indigenous, and all girls of color, which includes cis girls, trans youth, gender non-conforming, and/or non-binary youth who experience(d) girlhood and economic insecurity as a part of their journey.