Celebrating 10 Years of WITS

A lot can happen in ten years.

Ten years ago, the nation was hooked on American Idol, the space shuttle Discovery made its way to the International Space Station, the Pittsburgh Steelers took home the Vince Lombardi trophy, and Visionary Integration Professionals launched the first Women in Technology Scholarship (WITS) program.

Inspired by her own journey as a woman in technology, VIP CEO Jonna Ward created the WITS program to assist young women entering the industry. More than 884 applications and ten years later, the same founding principle – to support and encourage the next generation of women in technology – is still at the core of VIP’s hallmark community service program.

The more than 80 WITS recipients have gone on to earn degrees in over 20 various IT majors from universities across the country. Check out our WITS profile series here or learn more about their remarkable successes in our infographic here!

Despite these incredible achievements, the work is not yet over. Research shows “only 18 percent of undergraduate computer science degrees and 26 percent of computing jobs are held by women.” We’re proud to continue to offer the WITS program in support of women entering information technology fields. Learn more about the scholarship here or apply for the 2017 program here.

A lot happened in the past ten years. Let’s see what changes we can make in the next ten.