In a recent study conducted by New York University, researchers delved into the world of chess and confirmed a finding that STEM the Gap Academy has been voicing since its foundation: gender bias exists within the chess community and it can have significant consequences for young female players. While this study is recent, its findings align profoundly with the mission and work of STEM the Gap Academy, which is dedicated to empowering, inspiring and encouraging girls in STEM fields, including chess.
Read MoreEmpowering girls has always been the central mission of Girl Boss Chess, which is why we have always emphasized that we are, first and foremost, an empowerment company. We, of course, use chess as a vehicle to encourage more girls into STEM. And while using chess as a vehicle has been an incredibly rewarding and exciting venture for the Girl Boss Chess Collective, this year it has also been important for us to acknowledge that there are other vehicles out there too that can serve our company mission.
Read MoreNANDHINI SARIPALLI is our Girl Boss Chess Educator for the month of December and it's no wonder why! With an incredible passion for chess, this Girl Boss not only plays chess professionally, but is also a FIDE Arbiter and has made it her mission to inspire and empower more girls along the way! She works hard to ensure that her students learn lessons about life on the chessboard and then apply them in their day to day lives.
Check out the full Girl Boss Chess Chat with Nandhini Saripalli Find out what her greatest passions are (other than chess), what she believes constitutes the Girl Boss Method and her greatest hope for the future!
Read MoreIsabelle learned chess from her father and, ever since she was a little girl, she has been absolutely fascinated and obsessed with the sport! Just last year, however, Isabelle decided to make a professional chess career her main objective and she has not looked back since ! Whether she is playing professionally or teaching her students the game, she makes sure that she brings out her inner Girl Boss to the board every single time!
Read MoreScience Communicator and international model, Athena Brensberger discovered her love for Space Science when, at 11-12 years old, her teacher asked her to pick a book off the shelf, to write a report on it and present it to her class.
As luck would have it, Athena picked out a picture book of photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and the images of distant galaxies and stars and planets blew her mind in such a way that she has never looked back!
Read MoreSCRAPPING STEREOTYPES: How it helps everyone!
Stereotypes are glorified boxes. They are used to limit and to define people in two-dimensional predictable terms and, as anyone who has lived long enough can confidently state, people are far from being either two-dimensional or predictable.
Read MoreEmily Robinson is our Girl Boss Chess Educator for the month of October.
Emily has been playing chess since she was 6 years old and has Ron Weasley, from the world of Harry Potter, to thank for it. Dedicated to the cause of empowering girls and giving them confidence, Emily draws from her own extensive experience as a chess player in a male- dominated sport and works hard to make sure her students know their worth and surround themselves with the right people.
Read MoreBojana Bejatovic is our Girl Boss Chess Educator for the month of September!
Bojana has been playing chess since the age of four and with a competitive spirit and an iron mindset, it is easy to see why she is a force to be reckoned with, as a professional chess player and as a Girl Boss Chess Educator.
Read MoreWomen’s rights have certainly come a long way since the middle of the 20th century, when the second-wave feminist movement first started calling for gender equality that challenged the patriarchy and extended into every domain of life. However, even as the conversation (and protestation) has continued non-stop since the 1960s, when women first started making these demands, today the fight for equal opportunities, representation and compensation still continues…and shows no sign of slowing down. And the reason for this is that there are still so many fields that remain male-dominated today, including STEM fields and chess.
Read MoreFRUZSINA SZENTE-VARGA is our Girl Boss Chess Educator for the month of August!
Fruzsina has been playing chess for over 17 years! She is a Woman FIDE Master and a strong proponent for the empowerment of women all over the world! Over and over again, she has made it her mission to compete professionally against her male counterparts and to show them that a woman can hold her own in a male-dominated field.
Read MoreHow much screen time children should be allowed is a hot topic and absolutely everyone has a strong opinion.
It is no surprise that ‘screen time’ is a major concern in this modern world for parents and it is completely understandable, considering the unprecedented digital age that young children are growing up in.
Read MoreAs a society, we are completely obsessed with achievement. Whether it’s in sports, in business or in the arts, when we think of achievement, we always think of people who are at the top of their game, winning Oscars and championships and racking up accolade after accolade. We celebrate wealth, influence and privilege and while many of us aspire to reach that desired pinnacle of success,
Read MoreANGELYN BINAN is our Girl Boss Chess Educator for the month of June! Angelyn’s fascination with chess began at the very young and pivotal age of six, when she used to watch her brothers play chess. She has since gone on to win several tournaments and compete in national championships in her native Philippines. Angelyn aspires every day to take on new challenges, to pass on her incredible expertise to others and to empower young girls to make their mark in the world.
Read MoreINGRID GAYLE is our Girl Boss Chess Educator for the month of May! Ingrid is the co-founder of GIRL BOSS CHESS and breathes, walks and lives the message of empowerment she teaches her students! Her chess journey started only seven or eight years ago, but seeing its benefits, she rapidly latched onto it and has made it her heartfelt mission to bring this largely male-dominated sport to young girls worldwide, so that they can benefit from the plethora of advantages chess offers.
Read MoreOver the past few years, there have been a multitude of conversations that have been started and upheld around issues of representation, diversity and equality around the world. It has been made clearer and clearer that almost no field or domain is free of the blatant discrepancies that have been allowed to exist, forever seemingly, in terms of the availability of opportunities, resources and the appropriate training that should have been provided to all people equally, regardless of gender, color or creed.
Read More"Sorry, my daughter is just a little shy."
"Oh, what a shy little girl you have there."
"Is she always this shy? Don’t be shy!"
Have you ever said any of these things about your daughter to someone else…a family member, a teacher, a relative or even a random stranger on the street?
Caley Schnurr is our Girl Boss Educator for the month of April! Caley has been an educator for over half a decade and even though she has taught a plethora of subjects online, including history, mathematics and ESL, she is relatively new to the world of chess.
Read MoreYoung girls growing up, often hear statements like, ‘You’re so beautiful!’ or ‘What a pretty little girl!’ Oftentimes, the adults who offer these compliments, extend them with good intentions and with a desire to instill confidence and values of self-worth in the young girls they are addressing.
Read MoreAilen Mena is our Girl Boss Chess Educator of the month and it’s no surprise why! Ailen is a Women Fide Master and truly a woman of the world, having lived in her native Venezuela, Curaçao and Argentina, where she is currently studying Architecture.
Read MoreI am the Woman FIDE Master Ailén Mena, 21 years old, currently living in Argentina.
I started playing chess when I was eight years old; in my elementary school, chess was a subject, and we got a grade for it. Chess has helped me with a lot of subjects at school, especially in math.
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