Brescia House School held its second annual CuriosITy dinner on 17 May 2017 which was attended by more than two hundred people – mostly women and girls – who enjoyed an evening intended to inspire girls to pursue careers in IT.

Grade 11 girls who are taking either Information Technology or Computer Applications Technology as subjects were invited to the dinner from schools around Gauteng – with some schools travelling from other provinces to attend. During the course of the evening the girls moved from table to table, having opportunities to sit with a range of women who work in the technology industry. This led to lots of networking and sharing of ideas about succeeding as women in the technology industry; advice on which courses to pursue at a tertiary level and tips for landing a job in a competitive industry.

The keynote speaker was Sonja Delafosse – Microsoft’s Worldwide Senior Education Manager. Sonja’s inspiring keynote emphasised the theme of #Makewhatsnext – which involves encouraging students – especially girls – to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. Sonja showed the employee statistics of the major technology companies and emphasised how important it was for more women to be employed, considering that women comprise half the people who use technology, but only a small percentage of people developing the technology.

Bravo to Brescia House School – whose Microsoft Student Ambassadors initiated this project as part of their Microsoft Showcase Schools commitment last year, and who built on the success of last year’s event to include even more girls this year. Bresica House School does an amazing job of inspiring its own teachers and learners to fulfil their potential and to strive for excellence, but through events such as the CuriosITy Dinner and their termly TeachMeets, they continue to generously share opportunities for professional development with the wider community.