Donor of the Month: Integral Group
Our Donor of the Month is Integral Group's Vancouver team! Integral Group is a global engineering company that is proud to employ over 24% female technical staff, as compared to the 13% female technical staff participation in the industry. As a strong believer that increasing the number of women in STEM and technical fields leads to a better future, Integral Group feels honoured and inspired to help transform Purity’s dream of becoming a mechanical engineer into a reality!
Over a year ago, Integral Group realized that while women face pertinent barriers to entering STEM disciplines in economically developed countries, these obstacles are heightened in Purity's situation. In order to help her overcome economic and social challenges that would bar her from achieving her goals, Integral Group raised over $3,500 towards Purity's laptop, first year tuition and living expenses. However, Integral Group's efforts did not end there, as they continue to proudly fundraise for Purity's second year of university.
Integral Group appreciated the value of women's participation in STEM and realizes its positive effects on a community as a whole. In addition to supporting Purity through her post-secondary education, the company actively supports and promotes women in engineering through fundraisers, female focused co-op initiatives, and Women in STEM Job Fairs. Integral Group also shows their support by celebrating International Women’s Day, a collective day of global celebration and a call for gender parity. This day of awareness is not limited to one country or government but is inclusive of all nations of the developing and developed world. Integral Group believes that an educated woman is critical to the success of any nation, developing or developed.
Last year, Joe Quad, Integral Group's former Project Manager and an avid One Girl Can supporter, visited Kenya with our team. He got a chance to meet Purity in person and discuss her aspirations and goals for the future. He was particularly fond of Purity's devotion to developing her Mechanical Engineering career in her home country of Kenya. Rather than searching for opportunities internationally, Purity would like to help empower other women in her community to become educated and pursue careers in STEM.
We are so proud of Integral Group's hard work in fundraising towards Purity's education. With 80% already raised for Purity's second year, we are looking forward to collaborating with Integral Group to ensure Purity achieves her goal of becoming a Mechanical Engineer!