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Jennifer D. Hennessy has been married and divorced for 20 years. She worked multiple jobs as a single mom, taking care of two boys until they both went to college. Now remarried with a four-year-old son, Jennifer remembers the words of her 18-year-old son Aiden.
“Mom, it’s your turn now.”
Moms like Jennifer are “taking their turn” by returning to the workforce in an industry that needs workers: Utah’s tech industry. Helping them on their journey is Tech-Moms, a non-profit organization designed to help moms transition into technology careers and find more successful careers.
Utah Valley University (UVU) has partnered with Tech-Mothers to provide child care, facilities and support to the Tech-Mothers ORM team.
Director of Community Education RJ Wheeling called UVU’s partnership with Tech-Mothers a “no brainer.”
“Our mission is to inspire a culture of lifelong learning,” Willing said. “Tech-Moms do exactly that. They help educate and inspire women interested in careers in technology. When these women learn about technology from Tech-Moms, the entire industry is transformed and opportunities open up like never before.”
Classes are held on Saturdays in the UVU Clarke Building and include technical training in the coding curriculum (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript). At the end of the 10-week program, each student will build a personal website.
“Many of us are looking for better paying jobs,” DeHens said. “When you’re a single mom or you don’t have a degree in the field, you’re getting very low-income jobs. Simple call center, simple reception. Learning the skills here will increase our marketability in the workplace.
As proven by the CSS talk on September 24th, learning to code is not easy.
“I’m so stupid about this,” said a student in the front row during class.
Immediately, she hears her classmates chanting, giving support and encouragement to her tech-mom less selfishly.
“It’s a really supportive environment, and it’s really easy to ask questions,” said student Berlin Pearce.
Just as D’Haenens brought her son, Pierce brings her five-year-old daughter to UVU’s Wee Care Center while she takes tech-mom training.
“Thank you very much,” Pierce said. “When I joined Tech-Mums, they told me that they would try to remove any barriers to me coming, and that was a problem. I ask a neighbor or a friend every ten weeks: ‘Can you watch her for six hours and drive time?’ But now I don’t have to.
Trina Limpert, a founding member of Tech-Moms and an advisory board member of UVU’s Center for Women’s Success, started Tech-Moms to help solve two problems: the labor shortage in the tech field and the underemployment of women.
“Utah’s most untapped resource is women,” Limpert said. There is a disconnection occurring within. [employers]. One of the biggest issues is that they say it’s not there, but their system is set up to exclude women, with policies like you can’t have a gap in your career or you’re automatically disqualified. He said.
Limpert said tech-moms use their influence to take the blinders off of some tech industry employers.
“We make women apply [to companies] And tell us you can’t even get in the door,” Limpert said. “I pick up the phone, and sometimes I call the CEO and ask why our women can’t get through their system. ‘what’s going on?’ I ask.”
“We’re a touch high,” Limpert added. “We’re reaching out to our teams and communities in a variety of ways to help solve these kinds of issues.”
UVU’s partnership with the Tech-Moms Orm team contributed to the UVU Women’s Success Center (WSC) by introducing them to community members and offering We Care Center childcare services on Saturdays.
Rachel Lund, senior director of the Center for Women’s Success, said Tech-Moms and WCSC share similar goals.
“The mission of the Women’s Success Center is to help women graduate and stay at the top so they can succeed in life,” Lund said. “And that’s Tech-Moms’ mission — to help women who don’t have other opportunities get the skills they need in the workforce. It’s going to be fine.
Learn more about Tech-Moms program.
Learn more about it UVU Women’s Achievement Center.
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