Ivanka Trump Opens Day Two of the 2017 FIRST Global Challenge at DAR Constitution Hall

Ivanka Trump Opens Day Two of the 2017 FIRST Global Challenge at DAR Constitution Hall

FIRST Global Celebrates Women in STEM with the First Daughter

For Immediate Release

July 18, 2017

Washington, D.C. – Senior Advisor to the President of the United States and First Daughter Ivanka Trump arrived this morning at DAR Constitution Hall to greet the all-female robotics teams participating in the inaugural FIRST Global Challenge, the first international robotics Olympics for high school students.

Accompanied by FIRST Global Founder Dean Kamen and Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan, Ivanka met with Teams United States, Ghana, Afghanistan, Jordan, Vanuatu, and Brunei, six of the all-female teams participating this year. The First Daughter applauded the many accomplishments of the teams and encouraged others to follow in their footsteps so that many other young girls join the thousands of women around the world who have already contributed to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Trump then pulled the handle that released the game balls onto the field, at which point the six all-female teams started a friendly robotics round as a way to celebrate women in STEM.

Women around the world have strived to ensure that the gender gap in science and technology leadership and innovation is significantly reduced by inspiring young girls to continue breaking paradigms to pursue STEM education. FIRST Global is fortunate to work with such women who have brought over 100 teams into being, either by founding, organizing, or leading them.

Among the dozens of women who have helped bring teams to the FIRST Global community include women in South Africa, Uruguay, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Costa Rica, Rwanda; Malaysia; and Jordan to name a few.

The efforts of these remarkable women have already shown extraordinary results as more and more young women have signed up to participate in the 2017 FIRST Global Challenge. Teams from Vanuatu, Tanzania, the United States, Afghanistan, Palestine, Jordan, New Zealand, Brunei, Cambodia, and Germany are just some of the many all-female or female majority teams competing in Washington, D.C. today.


To learn more, contact:
press@first.global

FIRST Global Mission: El FIRST Global mission is to inspire science and technology leadership and innovation in young people from all nations in order to increase understanding, instill the importance of cooperation, address the world’s most pressing issues, and improve quality of life for all. This mission is accomplished through the FIRST Global Challenge, which culminates with an international robotics game that will rotate among different nations each year. By showing the youth of the world that if they communicate, cooperate, and work together using the tools of science and engineering to find solutions to the world’s grand challenges – water, energy, security, medicine, food, and education – they will be able to accomplish great things and become part of a truly global community.

FIRST Global Challenge: El FIRST Global Challenge is an annual robotics game that will address one of the 14 Grand Challenges identified by the national engineering academies of the United States, United Kingdom, and China. Each year, a different issue of global importance will take center stage as the theme of that year’s FIRST Global Challenge, which will be held in a different nation across the world.

Global STEM Corps: El Global STEM Corps (GSC) es FIRST Global’s 21st century answer to a world in need of an inspired generation of young adults ready to tackle global challenges. Through GSC, grassroots volunteers work to motivate students across the globe to pursue fulfilling, exciting, and rewarding lives through STEM education by mentoring them for an “Olympics”-style robotics event. These community-based volunteers range from civic minded high school and college students, to entire university robotics and engineering departments. The STEM Corps brings the universal elements of science, cooperation, and competition to the world stage by connecting mentors and FIRST Global competidores en línea y por teléfono, lo que le permite mantenerse en contacto en cualquier momento y en cualquier lugar.

FIRST Global Founder: Dean Kamen is a prolific inventor, entrepreneur, and tireless advocate for science and technology innovation. His roles as an inventor and an advocate are intertwined with his passion for practical, real world uses of technology, and his personal determination to spread excitement for and the virtues of STEM to the more than two billion youths around the world. Dean’s drive comes from his firm belief that the tools of science and engineering will help equip the world’s youth to solve the most pressing global challenges we face as a planet, both today and tomorrow.

FIRST Global President: Joe Sestak is a former Admiral and Congressman who commanded an aircraft carrier battle group during combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, served as President Clinton’s Director for Defense Policy in the White House, and headed the Navy’s anti-terrorism unit during his 31 years of naval service. Retiring when his daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer, Joe entered politics upon her recovery to fight for everyone to have the healthcare that saved her life. After leaving Congress, Joe taught at various universities while working for nonprofits focused on refugees, disaster response, education, and foreign policy.



es_MXES