After seeing that there were fewer girls than boys in her computer science class, a Dubai student launched an effort to encourage more girls to pursue careers in science, commerce, and the arts.

Vedha Sitlani, a Grade 11 student at GEMS Dubai American Academy, also wished to encourage students to give their all again following the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. She opened an international virtual competition called ‘Girls' Symposium' for high school girls to explore excellence and creativity in their area of interest, in STEM, Entrepreneurship, and Arts, after a year of networking, emailing, phone calls, virtual meetings, and training.

Student teams from multiple schools proposed their suggestions to judges online, and the top three earned prizes in March.

‘I was taken aback.

“I would like to develop today's girls into tomorrow's leaders, and I believe the Girls' Symposium has done just that. The level of participation astounded me. I had nearly 200 teams from six different countries register: the UAE, India, Oman, Iraq, Bahrain, and Qatar. “I was honored to get this competition judged by leading female entrepreneurs and artists,” she said.

Cash awards and internships 

The three winning groups from the first version of the contest each received Dh3,000 for their project and an internship with the judges, that included Joy Ajlouny, founder of Fetchr; Mona Ataya, founder of Mumzworld; Donna Benton, founder of the Entertainer; Dana Baki, founder of MUNCH:ON; and Dana Dajani, a leading Palestinian actress, author, and charitable figure.

Vedha, who is from Gujarat, India, hopes to hold a second version of the contest in September.

Globalization

“Through first edition's sponsors, I was able to acquire startup capital for all of the best teams to render their innovations a reality. This challenge left me feeling more motivated than ever before. The professional standard of the girls' ideas inspired me to improve the competition and outreach to more and more girls. I've wanted to expand it to include more colleges and teams. “I am motivated by a need to build a forum that encourages girls to unleash their artistic talents and entrepreneurial drive in front of the entire world,” she said.

Plans for the future

“I'm very interested in girls' empowerment in particular, so I'm hoping to launch a charitable organization in India soon to support girls' education. I'm still a huge theatre fan, and I do a lot of acting. I've been interested in plays, and I study theatre as a subject, so that's another huge hobby of mine.” Vedha is also interested in economics, which she plans to study at university. She aspires to be an entrepreneur someday.

In a nutshell, the best proposals from the Girls' Symposium

Entrepreneurship:

Team Tasker is "only a click away from supporting your children." Tasker is an app that encourages children to participate in constructive and enjoyable events, to improve the lives of stay-at-home parents. It operates on a point accumulation scheme, in which parents can arrange activities/chores for their children, with points awarded to each task. It operates on an in-app subscription platform with a special play kit containing unique toys/activities for kids.

STEM 

The STEM division was won by ‘The Inclusion Series.' The Inclusion Series is aimed at people who are physically challenged, to create a global society that accommodates the needs and situations of everyone. They also developed revolutionary prototypes for a walking stick, wheelchair, and smartwatch that make life simpler and the environment more accessible to the physically impaired.

Arts

The winner of the Arts award was a drawing about racism — specifically, racism in the context of COVID-19. It was developed by a young Chinese high school student to symbolize the effect of discrimination towards Asians during the pandemic and how it can affect an individual.