U-M Girls Who Code receive the Carol Hollenshead Inspire Award for Excellence in Promoting Equity and Social Change

University of Michigan (U-M) Girls Who Code (GWC) was awarded a 2025 Carol Hollenshead Inspire Award for Excellence in Promoting Equity and Social Change.

The Carol Hollenshead Inspire Award for Excellence in Promoting Equity and Social Change recognizes faculty, staff and students — either an individual or a group — who have proven that social change is possible through persistent hard work and who demonstrate that one person can make a lasting difference in their communities. The Center for the Education of Women, now CEW+, created this award in honor of its former director Carol Hollenshead’s 20-year tenure.

GWC was founded at U-M in 2017 by doctoral students in the Medical School’s Gilbert S. Omenn Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics. The club seeks to provide a collaborative and supportive environment for high schoolers of all skill levels and backgrounds interested in learning how to code. It teaches computer programming skills to K-12 students through weekly club meetings and other outreach events. This year, GWC has 15 students in their weekly club and has students and parents who travel over an hour to attend these sessions.Throughout GWC’s year-long program, participants engage in collaborative projects, hear from a diverse set of guest speakers, and are guided in the ethics and best practices of generative AI usage. 

U-M Girls Who Code 2024 Coding Club graduates

GWC leaders are very grateful for the recognition from this award.

"I'm honored that Girls Who Code at UM-DCMB is receiving university-wide recognition for our years of addressing local technology education inequities. Our achievements wouldn't be possible without the support of our many collaborators and sponsors both within and outside of UM." — Elysia Chou, PhD student, current director of Girls Who Code at UM-DCMB

"As a woman in STEM from Pakistan, being part of Girls Who Code at the University of Michigan has been a transformative experience. At GWC DCMB, all of us are united by a passion for teaching and a vision of a future where every girl believes in her unlimited potential. The Carol Hollenshead Inspire Award fuels our commitment to continue empowering young women in STEM."—Mahnoor Naseer Gondal, PhD student.

“Our students not only give back, but also gain leadership and networking skills. While first initiated and led by students in the bioinformatics graduate program, Girls Who Code also recruits students in other programs,” said Margit Burmeister, Ph.D., Associate Chair and Professor, Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics and Director, Bioinformatics Graduate Program. “These Girls' work is really impressive. For example, when they realized that there was not an appropriate curriculum for teaching Python to their high schoolers, they designed a curriculum and published about it.”

The award ceremony is Thursday, February 13, 2025, from 3-5pm, at the U-M Michigan League, Hussey Room. Elysia Chou and Mahnoor Gondal, GWC executive board members  of the U-M club, will give a lightning talk on the club and its impact. 

U-M Girls Who Code executive board members. Left to right, top row: Mahnoor Gondal, Elysia Chou. Bottom row: Breanna McBean, Olivia Callahan, and James Brissenden.

GWC executive committee members include: James Brissenden, Olivia Callahan, Elysia Chou, Breanna McBean, and Mahnoor Naseer Gondal. 

GWC is currently seeking new executive committee members, as well as a new (co-)director. This is a great way to get involved in addressing local tech education inequities at a relatively low commitment level – the executive board only meets once a month. The priority deadline for submitting applications is March 1, 2025. The application also provides more details about potential roles and responsibilities for those interested. For any questions, please feel free to email [email protected] or consider attending the board meetings, which are open to all. They meet every first Tuesday of the month at 5pm on zoom (link to calendar invite). 

Link to the application for executive board members.

GWC is co-sponsored by the Gilbert S. Omenn Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, and the Girls Who Code support fund. 

More about Girls Who Code

In The Record, January 23, 2025