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IWU MakerGirl Academy

Nine IWU students look to the camera, smiling, and holding a MakerGirl sign at the first workshop for girls in the community in 2022.

MakerGirl is a national nonprofit dedicated to educating young girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) through workshops and training in 3D printing and other technologies. 

Workshops are led by IWU student volunteers trained by MakerGirl to become ChangeMakers. 

What are we looking for in an IWU MakerGirl Academy ChangeMaker?

  • Students excited to educate the next generation of Makers.
  • Enthusiastic, creative, and big scale thinkers.
  • Preferred interest in any of the following areas: STEM, education, entrepreneurship, marketing, youth development.
  • No previous experience with 3D printing is required.

Past ChangeMakers have utilized their MakerGirl experience to:

  • Receive job and internship opportunities from top companies.
  • Deliver capstone projects, gain leadership and business experience, and have unique talking points for job interviews.

The IWU MakerGirl Academy is the first of its kind at a liberal arts university. Academies have been established in the past at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, Harvard University, and The University of Texas at Austin.

For more information about MakerGirl, visit makergirl.org. For more information about The IWU MakerGirl Academy, contact co-leaders Victoria Ballesteros-Gonzalez at vballest@iwu.edu and Mansi Shah at mshah2@iwu.edu.

John Quarton - Director of The Petrick Idea Center

Department - Provost And Dean Of Faculty