About Us
WATT is a non-profit organization founded in 2015 by two Holy Names students as a way to introduce girls to computer science at a young age.
Our Founders
Mackenzie and Laura graduated from Holy Names Academy in 2016. Both just finished their undergraduate degrees: Mackenzie at Villanova and Laura at the University of Washington.
Their inspiration for starting WATT is rooted in the mentorship that they received as young women, and the belief that continuing the cycle of mentorship is an opportunity to grow personally and to uplift the computer science field for women.
Mackenzie Jorgensen
Laura DeBoldt
Meet the Core Team
We are a team of Holy Names students who run the organization. We create the curriculum, recruit volunteers, teach classes, and manage the day-to-day operations.
Anaiysaa Deswal
Core Team Leader
Hello! My Name is Anaiysaa and I am a senior at Holy Names Academy. I have been programming for 4 years now and have enjoyed working on projects with friends and learning new coding languages. I started volunteering with WATT last year and have loved mentoring girls interested in stem fields. As a core team leader this year I hope to grow WATT and reach out to more schools to provide exposure and opportunities for young girls to discover their passions in computer science!
Natalie Hatzigeorgiou
Core Team Leader
Hi, my name is Natalie and I am a senior at Holy Names Academy. I was introduced to programming at the beginning of my junior year and I have loved it ever since. I joined WATT last fall as a volunteer in the fall and spring sessions and have really enjoyed seeing WATT’s impact on young girls. I am very excited to be a core team leader this year and I hope to contribute further to their learning by building a strong curriculum that will help them discover a new interest in coding, just as I did, and have the skills and confidence to pursue further studies in STEM.
Annajean Comfort
Outreach Coordinator
I am Annajean, a sophomore at Holy Names Academy. I joined WATT last year during the fall season. I joined WATT because I know that there is always more to learn and I am so excited to work with this amazing organization and get as many people as possible also excited to learn through WATT as the outreach coordinator.
Dina Tsang
Volunteer Recruiter
Hi! My name is Dina, and I am a junior at Holy Names Academy. I took APCS last year and found that I really enjoyed coding! I joined WATT as a volunteer last spring and am excited to join the core team because I want to help extend the reach of WATT not just as a learning opportunity for younger students but also an opportunity for the volunteers to learn more in both coding and teaching.
Ayanna Keshav
Social Media / Website Manager
Hi! I am a senior at Holy Names Academy and I have been programming for three years. I first joined WATT as a volunteer last year, and helped run the virtual Fall 2022 Web Design sessions. I was the Core Team Leader last year and I wanted to take on a role that would enable me to promote WATT further this year. I love WATT because I love being part of such a compelling initiative and I hope to extend WATT's impact and legacy as the Social Media Manager.
Sophie Fong
Growth Director
Hi, I’m Sophie and I’m a junior at Holy Names! I really enjoy programming and am hoping to share this interest with others. I volunteered with WATT last fall and am excited to be returning as a core team member this year!
Meet the Board
We are a team of Holy Names alumnae who guide the organization at a higher level. Having been on the core team previously, we are committed to WATT's mission and driving the organization's long-term goals and vision.
Mackenzie J.
Co-President
I started WATT back in 2015 with my friend and colleague, Laura, while we were Holy Names Academy juniors. I am so proud of the impact WATT’s team members continue to make! I graduated from Villanova University in May 2020 magna cum laude with a BSc in Computer Science. I am currently a PhD student in Computer Science at King’s College London, researching how to mitigate the harms of AI decision making. I completed a PhD internship with the UK Government's Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation in London over the course of 5 months in 2022. When I'm not working on PhD research, I am a Graduate Teaching Assistant for courses like Machine Learning, AI, and Big Data Analytics and a STEM Ambassador inspiring young people (and especially girls!) in the UK to learn more about and pursue STEM in their studies and careers.
Madeleine D.
Co-President
I am a senior majoring in Computer Science at Santa Clara University. My journey into computer science began in 8th grade when I participated in a computer science camp. Through this experience, I discovered various solutions to improve my life, such as developing and implementing websites and even creating my own startup called SlideNotes. I’m enthusiastically pursuing a career in CS while also committing to inspire young women to thrive in STEM. Since that pivotal moment, I’ve seized every available CS opportunity, taking all offered classes, joining STEM clubs, teaching students through WATT, completing two software engineering internships, a product experience testing internship at Apple, and a program management internship at AWS.
Lia H.
Treasurer
I took my first computer science class my sophomore year of high school, and since then it’s been one amazing adventure after another. Getting involved in WATT was one of the most rewarding decisions I’ve ever made, and it helped me discover my passion for the use of technology in education. I graduated from the University of Washington in 2022 with a B.S. in Computer Science and am now a software engineer at Microsoft working on the Edge developer experiences team.
Halina T.
Secretary
I’m a junior at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo studying computer science. I fell in love with coding as soon as I saw “Hello World” print on my screen for the first time. I was the core leader of WATT in 2016-2017 and had an awesome time giving young students an opportunity to learn how to code. My passion for outreach has continued in college where I have lead numerous outreach events for k-12 students to teach them about engineering and computer science. I have been an officer in Cal Poly Society of Women Engineers since my freshman year and I currently serve as the Tech Director for a club called Women Involved in Software in Hardware, leading our many software and hardware workshops and projects that we do through out the year. I am also a project lead in Cal Poly Robotics Club where I am working to build an electric, Bluetooth skateboard. I interned last summer at Discover Financial Services doing Application Security and will be interning at GoDaddy this summer doing Software Development for their Digital Crimes Unit. I’m grateful for programs like WATT and am excited to see the next fierce generation of computer scientists!!