Today's National Entrepreneur's Day! In honor of the holiday, we're recognizing two entrepreneurial women who are determined to close the gender gap.

Women in entrepreneurship and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) related fields are pretty rare. That’s why the founders of Roominate invented a toy for young girls to help develop skills that will prepare them for a career in STEM.

Today, we put the spotlight on Alice Brooks and Bettina Chen, and all that they do to inspire young girls to close the gender gap in STEM and in business.

About Roominate

Alice and Bettina grew up passionate about building and creating things. Alice was inspired when her father bought her a saw, and she built her first doll out of wood and nails. Bettina’s love for building things began when she built entire cities and spaceships out of Legos with her older brother.

When they met at Stanford, they were 2 of a tiny number of women in the engineering program. They realized they were both inspired to pursue engineering by their childhood toys. They set out to design a toy just for girls that would help them build…

The two women developed Roominate, a modular building toy with working light and motor circuits. With a little help from some Sharks – they took the toy industry by storm.

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How They Inspire Others

Adams Elementary School in Santa Barbara recently opened a new library and STEM center with a mission to create young innovators. Citrix’s own Carey Caulfield (Convoi) – whose daughter attends Adams Elementary – contacted the women of Roominate. They agreed to give an inspirational talk to the students of Adams.

While presenting over GoToMeeting, Alice and Bettina shared how they got started with STEM,  their favorite things about engineering, and how to stay passionate and persevere despite criticism.

At the end of the chat, principal Amy Alzina asked one question: “[Put] your hands up, boys and girls, if you want to be an engineer!” Almost every student raised their hand..

You can watch the full video here.

Let’s Keep At It

There’s no denying the power we hold as women when we work together and inspire each other. Imagine the world we could create if we all take a page out of Alice and Bettina’s playbook and invest in the young girls whose potential is limitless. They’ll be the entrepreneurial women in tomorrow's spotlight.

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