Volunteer Spotlight: Shilpi Agarwal Mentors at Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley’s International Day of the Girl
Every October, Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley brings hundreds of girls together at San Jose State University to celebrate International Day of the Girl — a day built around mentorship, confidence, and showing young women what’s possible. This year, DataEthics4All Founder and CEO Shilpi Agarwal spent the day there as a volunteer mentor, sitting table-side with students and working through activities designed to help them see themselves as future leaders in STEM and beyond.
A Room Full of Future Leaders
The event filled a San Jose State University ballroom with girls from across Silicon Valley, each seated at tables designed for small-group mentorship — part craft activity, part conversation, part confidence-building. Volunteer mentors rotated through tables all day, and the energy in the room made clear why Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley has made this one of its signature annual events.
Why This Work Matters to DataEthics4All
DataEthics4All Foundation’s mission is to empower 1 million youth through STEAM in AI, and closing the gender gap in STEM is central to that mission. Events like International Day of the Girl reach students before they’ve decided whether technology and AI fields are “for them” — and a single afternoon with a mentor who looks like them, working in a field they’re curious about, can change that calculus. Shilpi’s volunteer work here sits alongside DataEthics4All’s broader portfolio of AI ethics education, mentorship, and workforce-readiness programs, all built on the same belief: representation and hands-on mentorship move the needle faster than any curriculum alone.
Get Involved
DataEthics4All Foundation volunteers regularly with organizations across the Bay Area doing this kind of direct, in-person mentorship work — and we’re always looking for mentors, curriculum contributors, and community partners who want to help close the gap in AI and STEM access for underserved youth. If you’d like to volunteer, partner, or bring a program like this to your own community, reach out to DataEthics4All Foundation to learn how to get involved.