Change is Coming

Hi everybody.

For the past year or so, you may have noticed that FIRST Ladies has been relatively inactive. We have some amazing partners around the world who have been keeping up on events and promoting girls in STEM wherever they can, but as a community not much has been going on. This blog is intended to help you understand why, and hear about our plan moving forward!

My name is Rachel Hunter, and I was part of the FTC team, The Patronum Bots, who founded this organization back in 2014. Originally, this community came about because myself and the four other girls on my team decided that this was something the FIRST community needed. When my team stop competing in 2015, I took on the responsibility of running an amazing, ever-growing community of girls and women from all over the world. I have met some truly exceptional people throughout my time as Director of FIRST Ladies, and there is nothing I would change about that experience.

When I graduated from high school, I had every intention to maintain a high level of involvement with FIRST Ladies. The idea of giving up control of something that myself, my family, and my team worked so hard on was inconceivable. Anyone who has ever gone to college can probably tell you that it gets pretty overwhelming pretty fast. One missed blog post turned into five, which turned into infrequent email replies, and an overall slowing of the progress we had made. 

I could not be more proud of all I was able to accomplish as the leader of this community. I have seen so many girls come together and support each other, and at the end of the day that was the only goal FIRST Ladies ever had. We all accomplished this together. 

Anyone who knows me knows that FIRST Ladies is my life. Hands down, running this community is the greatest thing I have ever accomplished. The thought of stepping down as director has weighed heavy on my heart for over a year now, due to the fact that I have put so much of myself into this community. However, I have asked two extraordinarily talented and compassionate ladies to take my place. 

Anna Marie Mitchell and Selina Woo of FTC Team 11872, Visible Spectrum, will be taking over as Directors of FIRST Ladies. I have complete confidence that they will approach this new challenge with excitement, and I cannot wait to see what they do next!

We want YOUR feedback to make FIRST Ladies as amazing as possible. Please fill out this feedback survey so we know what you want to see: goo.gl/forms/0ukJwPu9bOYZL9Jv2