The Backyard Project ... for high school girls exploring a career in the computer

industry. A program of the Garnett Foundation.

1997

The Garnett Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 1997 by Katrina Garnett, President, CEO and Founder of CrossWorlds Software www.crossworlds.com. The goal of the foundation is to address the under representation of women in the computer industry. This goal was first considered in 1996 when Ms. Garnett, faced with a very limited pool of women candidates to hire for her start-up software company in Silicon Valley, determined to find out why and what she could do about it. Working with a consultant, Ms.Gamett decided that a non-profit foundation appeared to be the most appropriate vehicle to help institute change and the foundation was formed in April, 1997.

The first initiative of the foundation is the Backyard Project, a program designed to encourage high school girls to explore careers in computer science. A foundation consultant spent three months in 1997, examining existing math and science and computer programs for girls in the Bay Area. There was also extensive research on the intemet in these same fields. The researcher networked with program leaders and concerned women in the computer science departments in universities and colleges as well as computer industry and visited schools in the Bay Area collecting anecdotal information from students and teachers. It became increasingly clear that high school girls were not considering degrees or careers in computer science and, in fact, had very limited access to information about the important and exciting careers in the computer industry. In the spring of 1997, Ms. Garnett commissioned a survey of 652 college bound female and male high school students in Austin, Texas, Boston, Massachusetts and the Silicon Valley in Northem California which scientifically confirmed the sampling done in the Bay Area. It is called the Backyard Project, because even in the backyards of these major technical industry areas in the United States, girls were receiving very little information about careers in the computer industry.

The following Backyard programs were developed or occurred in 1997: Backyard Project Web Site: www.backyard.org

Designed with input and graphic illustrations from high school girls, the website, for girls interested in exploring a career in the computer industry offers information on

Backyard Project Brochures:

A free brochure about careers in the computer industry directing students to the web site, is available upon request to Bay area high school math and science teachers, guidance counselors and technical program directors. In September, 1997, a sample brochure and order form were mailed to 350 high schools in the Bay Area and to the coordinators of Expanding Your Horizons one day math and science workshop conferences throughout the United States. Over 100 schools responded with requests for brochures. More than 30,000 brochures were mailed October, 1997.

Conference:
Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing -

The Backyard Project invited 50 girls from Silicon Valley high schools and computer clubs to this San Jose, CA conference attended by over 600 professional computer industry women. The girls listened to a morning plenary session on The Futures of Women in Computing and then attended a role model career panel and an inter-active workshop designed specifically for them in the afternoon. - September, 1997

1998 Garnett Foundation
First Staff Hired

1998 Budget - $210,000 - Salaries/Equipment/Program

Camp was held the week of August 9-14. Twenty- four girls attended.
Deemed success by campers and instructors in exit survey
Camp was followed with a Reunion in October at Stanford
College Workshop was held at that time

Website -
Backyard girls interviewed industry women at work sites and posted interviews

Brochures - Mailed to Expanding Your Horizons Conferences throughout United States

Email Inquiries

Publicity

C Career Day - in association with DeVry Institute