About Us

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

Kate Atchison

she/her

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

Shahnaz Kamberi

she/her

Break Through Tech DC Site Lead at Mason; Associate Professor of Computer Science

Additional Members of the Break Through Tech DC at Mason Team

Elizabeth Delgado

she/her

Break Through Tech DC at Mason Data Lead; Strategic Modeling and Data Analyst

Teresa Donnellan

she/her

Break Through Tech DC at Mason Communications Lead

Khondkar R. Islam

he/him

Break Through Tech DC at Mason Data Lead and Curriculum Innovation Co-Lead; Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies, Information Sciences and Technology