Since its inception, MakerGirl has impacted the lives of over 6,000 girls through more than 560 sessions on university campuses and through #MakerGirlGoesMobile road trips in 28 states and four countries.
MakerGirl CEO Mary Hadley (’19 LAS) had never taken a business class or worked with a 3D printer when she signed up to travel across the country to teach young girls about the possibilities a career in STEM offers. Five years later, she’s overseeing the exponential growth of the successful startup that was boosted by the iVenture Accelerator, a University-wide incubator that’s powered by Gies College of Business.
“I will never forget this young girl who had decided to make a gavel for her assignment to create an object that represented her future career. She became frustrated because it wasn’t working and scrapped the whole idea,” said Hadley. “She came back with a much bigger idea – the Statue of Liberty. To watch her create something even better from that failure shows the power of MakerGirl. We teach girls not only about computer-aided design and STEM, but also about how to find their confidence.”
This month, MakerGirl is recruiting students and professionals to become part of the ChangeMaker team. New and returning participants are invited to join the organization’s virtual MakerGirl Summit (Sept. 8-9), where ChangeMakers from around the country can connect with the organization’s corporate sponsors for volunteer, professional development, internship, and job opportunities.
MakerGirl also continues to inspire other startups as a featured presenter at last month’s iVenture Demo Day in Chicago, which showcased 16 ventures and 60 student innovators. They are hosting an information session sponsored by MuleSoft on Aug. 19 for students to learn more.
MakerGirl was founded in 2014 by Gies College of Business students Elizabeth Engele (’15 BADM) and Julia Haried Flesher (’15 ACCY, ‘16 MSA). The idea grew out of a social entrepreneurship class and was further launched through iVenture Accelerator with a financial support, mentorship, and a summer at the University’s Research Park. Both women remain on the organization’s board of directors and work for Deloitte as senior consultants focusing on strategic design and innovation. Stephanie Hein (’16 LAS), MakerGirl’s first CEO, also sits on the board.
Engele and Flesher said iVenture allowed them to continue to bring to life their vision for MakerGirl.
“The iVenture Accelerator taught us how to successfully pitch our idea to corporate sponsors, and we learned how to raise money through crowdfunding campaigns, which supported us in making our first MakerGirl Goes Mobile road trip a reality," said Engele.
"Without the support of iVenture in our early years, MakerGirl would not have progressed to become the organization it is today," added Flesher.
Since its inception, MakerGirl has impacted the lives of over 6,000 girls through more than 560 sessions on university campuses and through #MakerGirlGoesMobile road trips in 28 states and four countries. The non-profit shifted to virtual sessions during the pandemic and is set to go back to in-person physical spaces this school year at the University of Illinois, Northwestern University, University of Michigan, and University of Texas at Austin. The goal is for each university academy to conduct six to eight sessions per semester, educating 300 to 400 girls per school year.
