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C T I N N O V A T O R S , 2 0 2 3 4 7 Events that represent Girls For Technology hired its first full-time employee in 2018, and now has a staff of five, Tucker-Barrett said. e nonprofit also moved from its original 250-square-foot office, to an 8,000-square-foot space in the Stilts Building, at 20 Church St., in downtown Hartford. e nonprofit also plans to hire its first-ev- er development director in the first quarter of 2024, as it ramps up efforts to raise private donations. Girls For Technology, for example, is hoping to bring in $400,000 at its annual gala, sched- uled for Dec. 8 at the Connecticut Convention Center. It will feature a keynote address by Mae Jemison, the first Black woman astronaut. Last year, the gala raised $150,000. Tucker-Barrett estimates the nonprofit now brings in about $1 million a year in grants. Re- cent awards include a $300,000 grant from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to give Girls For Technology the flexibility to pursue its mission as it sees fit, said Joel Hicks-Rivera, the foundation's senior community impact officer. He described it as trust-based philanthropy. "Trust-based philanthropy really calls on our grantees, that being Girls For Technology to re- ally be the experts, to allow them to do the work, to no longer prescribe, 'these are the things that we're interested in,'" Hicks-Rivera said. It also depends on a shared mission between the foundation and its grantees. For Girls For Technology, the shared focus is on employment, as well as on dismantling structural racism and advancing economic mobility for Black and Latinx girls and women, Hicks-Rivera said. "e fact that they're focusing on young girls in STEAM — science, technology, engineering, arts and math — you just don't see that niche and that level of programming for young girls," he said. e entrepreneurship piece is also import- ant, he said, adding that he was impressed by a recent pitch event held by Girls For Technology. "For the first time ever, I felt I arrived at an event that represented me, from the music to the food to the people," Hicks-Rivera said. 'A work in progress' As Girls For Technology has branched into new areas, Tucker-Barrett said she is oen asked whether the nonprofit will change its name. "I would say that it's a work in progress," she said. "So many people know who we are already as Girls For Technology, but it is a broader mission." Regardless of what happens to the name, Tucker-Barrett said she would like to see the organization achieve a national presence over the next five years. "ese needs and challenges are kind of uni- versal across the U.S.," she said. Tucker-Barrett said she also aspires to be- come more of an advocate for workforce and economic development in minority communi- ties, and spend more time mentoring startup companies. "I love working with small startups, tech-fo- cused or tech-enabled businesses," she said. Continued from page 45 I