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For Immediate Release: May 10, 2019 Second Edition of NYC Tech Summit Challenges Underprivileged Girls to Design Solutions to United Nations Global Goals A NEW REALITY: Tech Summit for Girls is a high tech, mentally stimulating, and transformative experience that aims to spark innovative creativity in the minds of girls from marginalized communities. Summit participants will gain technical and leadership skills from top industry professionals, innovators, CEOs, and entrepreneurs. The experience aims to inspire and empower young women and girls to create their own learning opportunities, consider careers in STEM fields, and create for innovative solutions to issues impacting their community and the world. NEW YORK, N.Y., May 10, 2019 – On Friday, May 24, 120 diverse girls will come together at SAP Next-Gen Hudson Yards for the second edition of A NEW REALITY – an immersive, women-led summit that will introduce them to the latest tech and digital trends in AI, blockchain, robotics, media, web & mobile development, and gaming. Demand for women in the STEM fields is at an all-time high, yet the sector is still grappling with gender, racial, and economic inclusivity. This was recently illustrated by the cancelation of NASA’s historic all-women spacewalk and the stark disparities that came to light again on Equal Pay Day last month. The summit aims to continue tackling these issues by giving girls from marginalized communities the hands-on experience, inspiration, and confidence to forge their own paths. During the full-day summit, participants will create their own innovative solutions to community problems in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Following the principles of design thinking, they will prototype their ideas after participating in multiple demo activation hubs and inspiring keynotes. Last year, speakers included women from UN Women, Facebook, New York Times, Hasso Plattner Institute & Columbia University; this year, the summit has attracted Co-Founder/President of ExecThread and Miss Black America, Ryann Richardson; Senior Vice-President and Global Head of SAP Next-Gen, Ann Rosenberg; Chemical Engineer turned style influencer Tiffany M, Battle; Founder & CTO FlyTechnista, TeLisa Daughtry; America’s #1 Mental Health and Wellness Expert, Dr. Tammy Lewis Wilborn. A NEW REALITY was created by Aminka Belvitt, Founder & CEO Wofemtech Solutions Inc. and the Founder & President of The ForUsGirls Foundation – an international organization providing skills-based, mentorship, and leadership programs for underrepresented girls in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. A NEW REALTY: Tech Summit for Girls is made possible through the partnership of SAP Next-Gen, The MINDS Foundation and The World Economic Forum Global Shapers community, and sponsorship from ThinkSys Inc, Synergy Resource, Bitsian, and Wofemtech Solutions Inc. The crucial support that A NEW REALITY provides extends far beyond one day; after attending the summit, participants will have a chance to create prototype apps for their solutions at Apple’s Grand Central store, participate in an immersive tour of the Samsung 837 innovation space in Manhattan, attend a design thinking workshop and summer coding program in partnership with SAP Next-Gen. This tripartite follow-up program is key to summit organizer Aminka Belvitt’s vision of creating new realities for girls in tech, which came to life following her own experiences as a minority woman: “I’ve had the opportunity to access high-level international conversations, conferences, and summits through my roles as a Global Champion for Women’s Economic Empowerment with UN Women, and as a One Young World gender equality advocate selected by UN Goodwill Ambassador, Emma Watson. I noticed that the most valuable aspect of bringing young people to the table is to focus the experience on them, and for them to be the center of focus by empowering them to own their learning and the decision-making power of outcomes that they are involved in. A NEW REALITY was created to provide those from underrepresented communities with the skill set to shape their career aspirations, as well as access to corporate spaces and mentors. Together, as a community, we want to ensure that every girl has the opportunity to explore her creativity and live out her full potential.” The summit is proudly hosted by the SAP Next-Gen Innovation Space, on the 48th Floor of 10 Hudson Yards in Manhattan, and it will run from 9:00am to 5:00pm. To register a girl of color who is in grade 6-12, visit: https://www.anewrealitysummit.com/register.html For more information on A NEW REALITY, visit www.anewrealitysummit.com For any other enquiries, please contact Aliza Lalani, Press & Media Lead, at press@anewrealitysummit.com | +1 917 306 1062 About A New Reality A NEW REALITY: Tech Summit for Girls aims to spark innovative creativity in the minds of girls in grades 6-12 from underrepresented communities in NYC to prototype design solutions for the UN 17 Global Goals, and to consider careers in STEM fields. Our goal is for these girls to envision themselves in careers that have not traditionally been visible to them. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to join the conversation around empowering girls in tech.  NEW YORK CITY - A NEW REALITY inspired girls to be critical thinkers, artistic creators and tech innovators. The summit featured high-level UN Women officials, academics, young medical professionals, senior Big 4 directors & partners, entrepreneurs, students, young professionals and creatives. Girls were inspired by Elizabeth Nyamayaro's heroic personal journey to the top of UN Women, as a Senior Advisor to the Undersecretary of UN Women to the Executive Director and the head of the HeforShe Initiative. Helen Molinier, Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship UNWOMEN provided a visual depiction of the gender disparities within the STEM, Innovation and Entrepreneurship space within most G8 countries. The peak of the summit was highlighted by the high energy design thinking workshop provided by Dr. Joann Halpern, Director of The Hasso Plattner Institute located in New York City. Design thinking is a creative and innovative methodology and mindset that provides a human-centered approach to problem solving. Summit participants were challenged to explore virtues of empathy and understanding with the girl sitting next to them. This provided the first step and basis to design thinking. Following this highly engaging workshop the girls descended into the 10 creative hubs led by our fantastic facilitators: Jonathan Abu, Jennifer Abu, Chloe Taylor, Jazmin Tanner, Priyanka Jaisignhai, La June McMillian, Tracey Erike, May Yang, Shaaz Nasir, Raakhee Miller, and Keli Chiu, supported by experienced design and tech consultants Vernon Martin, Arpitha Shetty, QianQian Song, Eric Zhu and our partner and sponsor Hemant Ramachandra, a HeForShe Champion. Surrounded by multi-talented and skilled professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives our summit participants split into groups aligned with the community and global issues outlined by the SDGs and their individual lived experiences. In just under 2.5 hours, the girls crafted highly impressive, creative, and genius prototype solutions to combat homelessness, climate change, bullying, and poverty to list a few. They received top-notch coaching. Arielle Gross, Business Lead to the VP of Global Business Marketing and Chief Creative at Facebook. Arielle shared her story of obtaining her engineering degree, being a girl in STEM and joining the Facebook team. She left the girls with two a valuable professional skills a solid handshake & a one-minute elevator pitch. Her professional insight and tips assisted the girls in preparing for their prototype pitches for the final section of the summit. Each group had the opportunity to pitch their prototype and design process to all in attendance and to our three judges: Joan McCurdy, Shaaz Nasir (Director of Digital Transformation, Microsoft) and Benedict Joan (Nelson Mandela Fellow), for a private prototyping and app creation session at Apple Grand Central Station! At the start it was announced that only three teams would be selected for the special prize. All teams were spectacular, resulting in the event organizer, Aminka Belvitt, announcing that all participants would have the opportunity to attend one private prototyping and app session at the Apple Store. This opportunity was made possible through Apple Educational Services and its partnership with the ForUsGirls Foundation. Madness ensued on the 48th floor of Hudson Yards after the announcement! The First Edition of A NEW REALITY: Tech Summit for Girls provided girls from diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds with creative, technical, personal and professional skills. The girls left with a mission to go out into the world and create new realities for themselves, their communities and the world! This event was sponsored by ThinkSys Inc, Hemant Ramachandra, Wofemtech Solutions Inc, SAP Next-Gen and Toms River District School Board, and charitable receipts were provided by (US) charitable partner The MINDS Foundation. Special thanks to Sandra Moerch Ben Christensen, and Ann Rosenberg for being the summit partners and hosts. Join us for the Second Edition of A NEW REALITY. Visit our website for information to come: www.anewrealitysummit.com  |