Ruthe Farmer has focused her efforts on increasing girls’ participation in technology and engineering since 2001. As Director of Strategic Initiatives, she provides strategic planning and direction, fund development, and cultivation of new partnerships for NCWIT. Ruthe oversees the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing and  efforts to accelerate distribution of NCWIT promising practices and resources throughout the computing community and beyond.

In a previous position as the National Project Manager for Technology & Engineering Education for Girl Scouts of the USA, Ruthe designed and implemented national programs and partnerships to increase girls’ participation in STEM and managed the K-12 Informal Education Hub of the National Center for Women & IT. She was responsible for establishing a national Lego Robotics initiative, scaling out the Intel Design & Discovery program to 63 councils, and forming a national partnership between FIRST Robotics and Girl Scouts of the USA.

Ruthe has served on the NCWIT Leadership Team and as the co-chair of the NCWIT K-12 Alliance, on the National Girls Collaborative Project Champions Board, the FIRST Robotics Girls FIRST Advisory Board, and is a founding board member of Springboard Innovation, a nonprofit dedicated to incubating grass roots social entrepreneurs. She was recently named to the Lewis & Clark College Board of Alumni, is an ambassador for the University of Oxford Said Business School, and serves on the Girl Scouts of Colorado STEM Advisory Committee.

Ruthe brings a wealth of experience in informal education, national collaboration, and fund development. She recently completed the MBA in Social Entrepreneurship & Marketing at the University of Oxford and is passionate about integrating innovative entrepreneurial strategies into her work.

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