Research shows women wait to be invited to participate in new opportunities. Consider yourself invited to what could be one of the most empowering programs of your life.
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eWiTS – Empowering Women in Technology Startups is a program, successfully piloted in the fall of 2012, at the University of Florida by the Office of Technology Licensing, UF Tech Connect and the Florida Innovation Hub to provide women with entrepreneurial training and skills that will empower them for the rest of their lives. While not everyone can be an entrepreneur, everyone can benefit from this program. eWiTS offers opportunities to women of diverse professional backgrounds, from science and engineering to business functions such as marketing and finance. Many think of entrepreneurs as business people, but entrepreneurs come from all walks of life.
You will gain these benefits:
- Unique opportunity to experience the technology commercialization process — a critical element of current & future economic growth
- Access to the resources, intelligence and tools required to form a technology startup, should you wish to do so in the future
- New skill sets and knowledge for resume-building and broadened career development options
- Ability to integrate the science and technology of the innovation with the business elements needed to transform it into a product
Women think differently than men and this difference can be a powerful source of competitive advantage. By providing women with the necessary entrepreneurial training to leverage women’s unique skills and perspectives for new business creation, we can transform them from employees to employers. Find more resources here…
GOALS
- Increase the number of women in leadership roles in STEM industries.
- Increase networking opportunities locally for women in STEM fields
- Encourage women to assume lead roles in STEM companies
- Provide mentoring and educational platforms for women regarding leadership and entrepreneurship
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The Story Behind eWiTS
During Jane Muir’s three decades in business, the world changed.
Eric Zamora/UF Photography
But at the meetings she attended, she was still, more often than not “the only person in the room wearing a skirt.” Seeking to right this imbalance, Jane brought several colleagues together for a lunchtime brainstorming session in the spring of 2012. This group became the leadership team of Empowering Women in Technology Startups. The team developed a concept and hired Lee May as the program manager. Read their bios here.
