About Us

Close up side view of student working on a project.

Mission

We work at the intersection of academia and industry to propel women and underrepresented communities into computing degrees and tech careers.

Through curriculum innovation, career access, and community building, our goal is to achieve gender equality in tech.

Our Team

We’re a cross-institutional, agile team, working to support large numbers of curious and self-motivated young women as they explore academic and career opportunities in computing fields, and we are especially committed to serving Black, Latina, and Indigenous women.

We love to collaborate with tech leaders in all fields. Whether you’re a large corporation, a startup, a nonprofit, in government, or in academia, we want to partner with you.

We’re hoping to inspire future change makers—the next generation of top talent, the companies that value diversity, and the public institutions that support innovation.

Break Through Tech DC Leadership

Huzefa Rangwala

he/him

Break Through Tech DC Site Lead at Mason; Professor of Computer Science & Lawrence Cranberg Research Faculty Fellow

Shvetha Soundararajan

she/her

Break Through Tech DC Co-Site Lead at Mason; Term Assistant Professor of Computer Science

Kate Atchison

she/her

Break Through Tech DC Co-Site Lead at UMD; Assistant Director of the Iribe Initiative for Inclusion and Diversity in Computing (I4C)

Jan Plane

she/her

Break Through Tech DC Academic Lead at UMD; Director of the Iribe Initiative for Inclusion and Diversity in Computing (I4C) and Principal Lecturer of Computer Science