Empowering the Next Generation: Girls4Tech 2025  

Belize Bank, in partnership with Mastercard, hosted the second annual Girls4Tech program in Belize, showcasing their dedication to empowering young girls through STEM education. Three hundred primary school girls are gathered here in Belize City to gain essential STEM skills and explore future careers in technology and finance. This year’s participants include students from Holy Redeemer Primary School and Grace Primary School in Belize City, as well as Pancotto Primary School from Sandhill Village.

 

Namrita Balani, Director, Science & Technology

“As the Director of Science & Technology at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and proudly as a girl in tech, myself, this moment resonates deeply with me.  I know the challenges that can come with stepping into a space where women and girls have traditionally been underrepresented, but I also know the power of opportunity, mentorship and access and how they can change lives.  Recent data reveals an interesting trend in our country: while the ratio of boys and girls in preschool, primary, and high school is nearly equal, it changes significantly at the sixth form and university levels, about seventy percent girls and thirty percent boys.  However, in technical and vocational education training, this trend is reversed, with seventy percent boys and only thirty percent girls enrolled.  This shows us that while our girls are excelling, we must continue to encourage them to step into spaces like tech and engineering, where they are still underrepresented.”

 

Rodolfo Zavaleta, Regional Commercial Director, Mastercard

“We are proud and honored to be able to serve this incredible purpose, not to teach, not to insert new ideas into our young girls that we work with in this program, but rather to maintain what they already have in them, to potentiate, to amplify what our young girls in the world bring with them.  So I’m very, very honored and very inspired.  Thank you, Mr. Alario.  Mastercard is proud to be here, our signature STEM education program, Girls4Tech aims to close the gender gap.”