Women in Technology Event Spotlights Summer Interns

William Blair hosted its 2022 Women in Technology (WiT) showcase during a two-day online employee event August 3-4, featuring the work of 30 women college students who interned with the firm this summer.

All are pursuing careers in information technology and participated in the firm’s WiT program, a 10-week internship led by William Blair’s IT department. Established four years ago as a grassroots initiative to encourage more women to pursue careers in the male-dominated tech sector, WiT has grown from four interns in 2018 to 30 this year.

“My hope is to close the gender gap in technology and share the successes we’ve had at William Blair with other organizations, so they too can develop their own successful WiT programs,” said Fares Ghanimah, head of William Blair’s central technology services team and founder of WiT. “Aside from an incredible and talented group of students, this year we had the most diverse group of interns since the program started.”

The Interns

Interns from the class of 2022 attend colleges and graduate schools across the country, from New York to California, Florida to Iowa. Their presentations featured insights on advanced technology, digital tools, and data analytics used at William Blair to strengthen outcomes for clients’ success. Among the topics discussed were the automation of finance forecasting, life cycle financing, cybersecurity data trends, use of macroeconomic indicator dashboards, and more.

The WiT program was designed to create a technology-based learning experience for women college students. It also supports women in tech roles at William Blair through employee engagement and development programs along with partnering with community groups that share similar goals.

“I'm excited about the young generation of female technologists who possess an incredible level of intellect and rigor,” Ghanimah said.

WiT 2022 Intern Class: The Future of Tech