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The BRAID initiative was announced on Sept. 25 by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her address at the 2014 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, as part of the Girl's CHARGE, a CGI Commitment to Action comprised of 30 companies, civil society organizations, multilaterals and governments to improve learning and leadership opportunities for young women and girls. BRAID is supported by three-year funding commitments from Facebook, Google, Intel and Microsoft. Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College, and Telle Whitney, president and CEO of the Anita Borg Institute (ABI), will lead the BRAID initiative. Participating universities will receive $30,000 per year for three years to help support their efforts.

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) at the University of North Texas (UNT) was one of 15 universities in the United States to join a nationwide initiative to recruit more women and underrepresented minorities into the ranks of computer science majors and professionals.

According to Dr. Barrett Bryant, Chair of the UNT CSE Department, “UNT and CSE have been very committed to increasing the number of women and minorities in computer science. Our summer camp offerings have led to students studying computer science who might not otherwise have done so. We are very appreciative of this funding that will allow us to expand our initiatives into other areas.”

Other undergraduate computer science programs participating are

  • Arizona State University
  • Missouri University of Science & Technology
  • New Jersey Institute of Technology
  • University of California - Irvine
  • University of Illinois - Chicago
  • University of Maryland - Baltimore County
  • University of Maryland - College Park
  • University of Nebraska - Lincoln
  • University of Rochester
  • University of South Carolina
  • University of Texas - El Paso
  • University of Vermont
  • University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
  • Villanova University