CalGirls Kick-Off Conference
The California Girls Collaborative held their Kick-off Conference on October 10, 2007 at the Clark Kerr campus of UC Berkeley. Over 50 people attended, representing business, higher education, K- 12 schools, and community-based organizations. The day began with an introduction to the project and a welcome from project leaders and Rita Wustner, the President of AAUW California. Danielle Feinberg from Pixar Animation Studios gave an inspiring speech about her education and career path and provided attendees with an inside look at the how math and science played a role in creating "Finding Nemo". There were many opportunities for networking, including an engineering challenge led by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The challenge involved building the tallest structure using the least amount of 3x5 index cardsand would hold a two-pound pail of candy for at least five seconds (see photo). Participants also learned how to register in the National Girls Collaborative Program Directory and how to apply for a mini-grant. Applications are now being accepted in California and will close in April 2008.

NGCP Mini-Grants
The National Girls Collaborative Project offers many tools to help strengthen the capacity of programs serving girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). NGCP awards mini-grants to girl-serving STEM focused programs to support collaboration, address gaps and overlaps in service, and share promising practices. Mini-grant projects must relate to either informal learning or evaluation and assessment. Mini-grants will be available via current collaboratives as well as for organizations in select states not currently served by a collaborative. A variety of resources about NGCP mini- grants are availble on the Web site and will allow you to prepare a more thorough and competitive grant application. This first round of mini-grants will best serve projects that are planned for implementation in late-Spring and Summer of 2008. Regions or states not listed will open mini-grants in 2009. To view the current timeline of states with mini-grants available please visit: http://www.ngcproject.org/mini-grant/

NGCP NOVEMBER WEBCAST
Effective strategies for working with girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
November 14, 2007, 11:00-12:00 PST
Whether your program connects girls to professional female mentors, exposes girls to science at a local museum, or teaches girls robotics after school, there are key strategies that are effective when working with girls in STEM. Learn from experts in the field what research and practice tell us about high-quality informal learning programs for girls in STEM.
To register:
http://www.ngcproject.org/events/webcast.cfm

American Association of University Women (AAUW) members across the country are serving as Regional Liaisons for the National Girls Collaborative Project. These Regional Liaisons help the people involved in the NGCP to make connections - to one another, to resources on gender equity, and to AAUW.

AWE is the Assessing Women and Men in Engineering Project, which provides exportable assessment instruments, literature resources, and methodologies for Women in Engineering and similar programs. AWE is developing resources for use by K-12 STEM programs as part of NGCP services.