# Girls Talk Tech: 7,000 students and the next generation of women tech leaders

DevFeed: [Girls Talk Tech: 7,000 students and the next generation of women tech leaders](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/girls-talk-tech-7-000-students-and-the-next-generation-of-women-tech-leaders-61023.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.cio.com/article/4226788/girls-talk-tech-7000-students-and-the-next-generation-of-women-tech-leaders.html>)

Author: Michael Bertha

Published: 2026-09-28T09:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [CIO](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/cio.md>)

Topics: [Electrical engineering and computer science (EECS)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science-eecs.md>), [data analyst](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/data-analyst.md>)

Tags: [career](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/career.md>), [careers](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/careers.md>), [careers-diversity-and-inclusion-employee-experience-it-leadership-it-management-mentoring-wome](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/careers-diversity-and-inclusion-employee-experience-it-leadership-it-management-mentoring-wome.md>), [cio](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cio.md>), [contributor](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/contributor.md>), [cybersecurity](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cybersecurity.md>), [development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/development.md>), [diversity-and-inclusion](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/diversity-and-inclusion.md>), [employee-experience](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/employee-experience.md>), [it-leadership](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/it-leadership.md>), [it-management](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/it-management.md>), [mentoring](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/mentoring.md>), [women](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/women.md>), [women-in-it](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/women-in-it.md>), [works](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/works.md>)

## AI overview

ConocoPhillips' Girls Talk Tech program introduces middle and high school girls to technology careers through school panels and hands-on events. The article describes the program's outreach model and cites a broader gap in women's representation in IT, engineering, and computing.

## Source excerpt

A high school teacher had three girls sign up for her computer science class--three for the whole year. Then a group of ConocoPhillips technologists came in to talk about their careers, and more than 20 students registered. The school had to add a half-day CS teacher to handle them. That is Girls Talk Tech working exactly as designed. A group of women in the ConocoPhillips IT organization formalized the program in 2018 with a clear mission: educate, encourage, and empower young women to embrace technology for the future. The gap it addresses is well documented. According to the National Center for Women & IT, women make up 57% of the US professional workforce and hold only 26% of IT roles, and the disparity widens in engineering and computing. "It's really an outreach education program," says Billy-Joe Lafortune, general manager of Lower 48 Digital Technologies and Global Strategy at ConocoPhillips. "It's about reaching out to young women in middle school and high school, and it's about inspiring them and preparing them to consider or pursue a career in technology and STEM." Lafortune has been a co-sponsor since 2019, when the team asked her to take the role alongside the CIO at the time. Her day job spans two responsibilities: she is the business unit technology leader for ConocoPhillips' Lower 48 segment, the largest piece of the portfolio, and she leads global digital strategy, deciding where the investments go and then delivering them. She reached that seat over two decades at the company, through IT leadership roles in the Canadian business unit and corporate functions. In April, the HoustonCIO chapter named her the 2026 Super Global ORBIE recipient, the category reserved for leaders at organizations above $7.5 billion in revenue with multinational operations. How the program runs Girls Talk Tech works in three tiers of depth. School panels are the primary channel and the highest volume. Volunteers visit local schools, share their own career journeys, walk throu