Frequently Asked Questions
General FAQ
If you are not logged in to IGNITE-us.org, you may not be able to access some of the protected areas on the website.
You may log in by clicking on the "Sign up for membership or Log In" button at the top of the page or by clicking here. Enter your username and password into the fields provided. If you've forgotten your password, you can recover it by clicking on Recover Lost Password. A new password will be sent to your email address.
Each IGNITE member school has its own discussion group on the IGNITE-us.org website. You may apply to join this group so you can be notified of special events in your area, such as IGNITE school presentations, field trips, and conventions. Whether you are a student or a volunteer, we encourage you to join up with your local Member School group!
To see a list of IGNITE-us.org Member Schools and apply to join a discussion group, click here.
If you are currently logged in and wish to change your password, click on My Account on the menu in the left sidebar. Then click the Edit tab at the top of your profile. Type your new password in the indicated fields and click Save. Your password will be changed.
Chapter Administrator FAQ
During a Presentation, each speaker tells her story for approximately 10 minutes, explaining:
- Her background (starting with the teenage years)
- How she got where she is today (education, various jobs, likes/dislikes)
- What she does now
- The struggles, obstacles, and mistakes made along the way and how she learned from each of those
To help prepare each speaker for her presentation, you need to call them and ask them a few questions. These questions will reassure the speaker that she does have a story to tell and help her identify parts of her story that she wants to share with the girls. You may want to e-mail the questions to the speaker before the phone conversation, if that makes them more comfortable. But definitely send them afterwards, to serve as reminders or guidelines for the speaker’s story.
During any pre-Presentation conversation, let the speaker know that telling her story honestly—not hiding the difficulties and not exaggerating the benefits—will make the stories most compelling. Teenagers appreciate honesty and are more willing to respond when they know the story is genuine. Also, when asking questions, make sure you ask about challenges in general before asking specifically about gender-related challenges. This helps the speaker understand that you are looking for both a general overview of the technology field as well as the specifics of her own personal story.
Questions to Consider in Planning a Presentation Story
- What were you like in high school?
- How did you decide what you would study in college?
- What obstacles did you face along the way? How did you overcome them?
- What is your career now?
- What is exciting to you about that career?
- What advice would you like to share with the girls that you wish you knew when you were in high school?
It's finally here! The new IGNITE website, www.ignite-us.org, is live on the Web and ready to assist you. IGNITE is proud to offer you, as a Chapter Administrator, a powerful set of tools that will help you effectively manage your IGNITE Chapter.
Below is a brief set of instructions that will help get you started on IGNITE-us.org:
1. Log In
If you're already an IGNITE Chapter Administrator, you most likely already have an account on this website, with all of the privileges and access of an IGNITE Chapter Administrator.
You can login to the website by entering your username and password in the login box. If you can't remember your password, click "Request New Password" and we'll email it to you.
If you're not yet an IGNITE Chapter Administrator and you'd like to start a local IGNITE Chapter in your area, please contact us so we can assist you!
2. Connect with your students
The primary benefit of using the IGNITE-us.org website to manage your IGNITE Chapter is the ease of staying in touch with your students. Many of your IGNITE students are already using the website to sign up for events and field trips.
Managing IGNITE Field Trips, Conferences, Presentations, and Events
All IGNITE events are posted on the Events Calendar. To see the calendar, click on the "Events" menu at the top of any page on the site, or simply click here. Also, make sure you login to the site first, or else you won't be able to see everything.
To view the details of an event, click on the title of the event that shows on the date your event occurs.
The page that comes up will show date, time, location, and the list of users who have signed up.
Your Member School discussion group
Each IGNITE Chapter also has its very own discussion group on the IGNITE-us.org website. When students sign up on the website, they also join the discussion group for their school. These groups are powerful tools that you can use to stay in touch with your IGNITE students. You can post upcoming events for them to see, or post reminders about upcoming deadlines and opportunities, or just use it to keep track of who your IGNITE students are.
You can access your Member School group by clicking on "Member Schools" in the sidebar on the far left side of the website, then clicking on the "My Schools" tab in the middle of the page. Alternately, you can go there by clicking here.
Click on your school's name, and it will bring up the details for your Member School group, including events and messages related to your school. There are many different options available on this page for managing your IGNITE Chapter (and depending on your own style, you might use all or just a few of these tools), so we encourage you to explore this area and let us know if you have any questions or require any assistance.
3. Get help
We want to help you in any way we can. If you have any questions about the instructions above, or how to use the website, or something just doesn't make sense to you, we have resources that can help you out. There is an online FAQ located here, which is updated periodically as new questions are answered. You can also ask the IGNITE administrators a question by filling out our contact form.
On behalf of Cathi Rodgveller and the entire IGNITE Team, welcome to IGNITE-us.org!
Starting a new IGNITE Chapter begins with the IGNITE Toolkit. This toolkit contains everything a prospective Chapter Administrator needs to start up and maintain a successful IGNITE Chapter in their area.
Job Shadow FAQ
After you submit the Job Shadow Request form, IGNITE will provide you with a Job Shadow packet. This packet will go over all the information you need to have a successful Job Shadow opportunity. Many topics will be covered from how to dress, how to find the location, and what questions to ask.
Do a Job Shadow on a day that you do not have school. We have lots of days during the school year that we are off. While we have all of these days off, the rest of the world is at work. These days are perfect to do a Job Shadow.
Job Shadow experiences are wonderful opportunities to get to spend the day with someone who has reached a certain level of success in their career. These people can share with you how they reached their goals and some tips on how you can too.
Every young person should try at least one Job Shadow, and more if they can! What a fabulous opportunity a Job Shadow can be! Participating will allow you to see what a career is like before you spend years and lots of money to study a career path.
Job Shadows are wonderful opportunities to get to spend the day with someone who has reached a certain level of success in their career. These people can share with you how they reached their goals and some tips on how you can too.
On a Job Shadow you will want to dress in business attire. No low cut shirts or very short dresses; this sends the wrong message. Wear closed toed shoes and keep makeup and jewelry to a minimum. Pretend you are going to visit your grandmother for a special occasion or for a dinner at a nice restaurant!
You want to look nice and neat and represent yourself in the best possible light. This person might be interested in helping you in the future with your career and you want to make the best impression.
A Job Shadow experience will show you what a career looks and feels like in the real world of employment. You may discover what you don't want to do as well! Both things are important to learn about and for yourself.
Professional Member FAQ
In a normal IGNITE Presentation, you'll have about 10 minutes to tell your story. Here are some suggested guidelines to follow:
Guidelines for a Successful Presentation Story
- Your background (starting with the teenage years)
- How you got where you are today (education, various jobs, likes/dislikes)
- What you do now
- The struggles, obstacles, and mistakes made along the way and how you learned from each of those
In addition, there are some questions to consider when planning your talk:
Questions to Consider in Planning a Presentation Story
- What were you like in high school?
- How did you decide what you would study in college?
- What obstacles did you face along the way? How did you overcome them?
- What is your career now?
- What is exciting to you about that career?
- What advice would you like to share with the girls that you wish you knew when you were in high school?
It's a good idea to write or record these questions and their answers as reminders or guidelines when preparing your story. They will help you identify parts of your story that you wish to share with your audience.
It's important to remember that telling your story honestly—not hiding the difficulties and not exaggerating the benefits—will make the stories most compelling. Teenagers appreciate honesty and are more willing to respond when they know the story is genuine. Also, it's not necessary to focus only on gender-related challenges. Your audience is interested in your general experiences in the technology field as well.
You can get even more involved by providing funding, scholarships, student internships or field trips for IGNITE Chapters and Student Members.
Please send Cathi an email and she will help you get in touch with someone in your local are to get started!
Once you have signed up as a Professional Member, you are considered a core supporter of IGNITE and will be included in any events and activities that IGNITE holds anywhere in the world.
If we have IGNITE Events at a local School District in your area, you can contact the Chapter Administrator listed on the IGNITE Chapter interactive map.
The Chapter Administrator or an IGNITE Staff member will notify you about any and all IGNITE events happening in your local School District or Member School if you are already a Professional Member or Volunteer.
We know your time is valuable. Please coordinate with the Chapter Administrator in your area and we will be delighted to meet with you personally. Each situation is unique.
Often, we find that Professional Members are willing to speak at events, help us with fundraising efforts, offer Job Shadow opportunities with the Student members as well as take on Mentoring a Student Member until she enters college or the work force.
Once you fill out the Professional Member form and you have been contacted by the local Chapter Administrator, the time you volunteer is really up to you!
Becoming a Professional Member with IGNITE means so many things! Thank you for being interested in these young women and their futures!
The primary goal for our Professional Members is to be able to answer questions that girls have for you about your career and your path to success.
Many of these young women are looking for Job Shadow opportunities, or a Mentor who can guide them in their search for a career they will enjoy.
You must purchase the Membership before the form will appear. We charge the Professional Members a $60 fee to join IGNITE each year so that we can offset the costs of administration, maintaining the website and hosting the presentations in local Chapters. IGNITE is a 503C Non-Profit and any fees you contribute are tax deductable.
Please fill out the Member Registration form that will pop up once you have paid the fee. Once you fill out the form and the Chapter Administrator in your area has reviewed your personal information, someone will contact you personally!
This information will only be viewable by registered and authenticated IGNITE users.
We will provide you with a packet of information as well as personal coaching so that you can feel confident in your skills to be a great mentor! Thank you for your interest in helping us spread the word about IGNITE!
Student Member FAQ
Of course! Graduates of the IGNITE student program make up a very important part of IGNITE.
As an IGNITE graduate, you can still access the many resources for students, such as job and internship opportunities, that will continue to help you along in your chosen career path. You are still eligible to do Job Shadows and connect with Professional Members who will continue to mentor you as your future unfolds.
Additionally, once you graduate from the IGNITE program, you have the opportunity to begin mentoring other IGNITE students. By sharing your unique skills and experiences, you can have a huge impact on younger students and help them along as IGNITE has helped you. In fact, many of the IGNITE Professional Members who speak at presentations and conferences are also graduates of the IGNITE program!
First of all, welcome to IGNITE-us.org! Let us help you get started.
1. Register
You can create an account by going to http://www.ignite-us.org and clicking on "create new account" on the left side of the page (below the login box).
Or you can click on the direct link here.
Fill in the requested information, including your school name and that you are a student. When you're done, click the Create New Account button at the bottom of the page.
The next page will ask you to Choose Your Role. Click on "Student."
The next page will prompt you to...
2. Connect with your Member School discussion group
Every IGNITE Member School has its own discussion group where IGNITE events and messages from the Chapter Administrator are posted. Joining up with your Member School discussion group and checking often for new posts is a great way to be the first to know about special field trips and job shadows in your area.
When you've finished creating your account by following the directions above, you'll be prompted to choose your school's discussion group. Find your school in the list and click on the Join link to the right of your school name.
3. Start signing up!
Congratulations! You're well on your way to participating in all of the programs IGNITE has to offer. You may be interested in signing up for a job shadow, or attending an IGNITE field trip with your school. You can do all of these things through the website.
You can find a complete listing of events on the IGNITE Calendar (click on "Events" at the top of any page on the website to bring up the calendar). You can also find events specifically for your school posted to your Member School discussion group (click on "Member Schools" on the left sidebar, and then click on your school to see all events for that school).
Once you've found an event you'd like to sign up for, click on the title of the event to bring up the signup page. Click on the "Sign up" link and enter in the requested information to sign up.
Job Shadows work a little bit differently. To sign up for a Job Shadow, you will need to fill out a Job Shadow Request form on the site. They are located here . Please answer the questions in the form so IGNITE can match you up with a professional in your area who shares your interests. Once you submit the Job Shadow Request form, an IGNITE administrator will be in contact with you to work out the details about the date, time, and location of the job shadow.
4. Get Help
We want to help you in any way we can. If you have any questions about the instructions above, or how to use the website, or something just doesn't make sense to you, we have resources that can help you out. There is an online FAQ here, which is updated periodically as new questions are answered. You can also ask the IGNITE administrators a question by filling out our contact form, located here.
You must be signed in as a Student Member with your unique username and password in order to view the protected, members-only pages on this website.
Once you are a Student Member, you will have the opportunity to upload an image of yourself, keep track of the events you attend, your graduation dates and update your private profile and achievements as your education progresses.
This Student Member information is gathered by IGNITE to help you find Job Shadow opportunities, Internships and Mentoring partnerships. This also helps us produce the interesting events that we attend! It also helps IGNITE keep statistics on the success of our IGNITE Program across the world.
This information is not viewable by the public.
Your email address is on our database for email announcement distribution after you fill out your Student Member form.
IGNITE Chapters are listed on this website by State, City, School District and Member School.
The Chapter Administrators have their profiles (link to the page here) listed with contact information and links to the Event Calendar.
You can look for a Chapter in your area by using the interactive map, by using the Chapters navigation button at the top of this page, or by entering a keyword into the text field of the search feature at the top right hand side of each web page.
You may also contact IGNITE Staff by using the Contact button on the top of the web page and filling out the Contact form. Someone will get back to you as soon as possible.
IGNITE Chapters are listed on this website by State, City, School District and Member School.
You can look for a Chapter in your area by using the interactive map, by using the Chapters navigation button at the top of this page or by entering a keyword into the text field of the search feature at the top right hand side of each web page.
After you fill out your Student Member form, the Chapter Administrator in your area will be contacting you soon by email. If there isn't a Chapter in your School district, maybe you can be the person who brings the IGNITE Program to your school!
For any in-person IGNITE Chapter Events, your school would have to have its own IGNITE Chapter or be a Member School.
You can find a career listed by location, or job title, or you can just read through the Professional Member Profiles until you find someone with a career you want to learn more about. The women who are on the Professional Member list are here to help you. They want to answer your questions, be a mentor, and help you navigate your career path. All you have to do is engage them by writing to them. How to proceed? Here are some suggestions:
Who are you? Tell someone on the Professional Member list a bit about you, your name, school and grade to begin. Then elaborate by telling the Professional Member a bit about what brought you to IGNITE, and why you are interested in learning more about technology and engineering careers. That should get you both started off on a conversation. After you get to know someone a bit, then you might want to ask her for a Job Shadow day.
We can schedule a Job Shadow on your day off; a school holiday can be spent learning about a new career opportunity by doing a Job Shadow with a Professional Member.
Ask your questions and be mentored online by women who want to help you understand what they do. Give it a try! You might discover a new career interest, or learn about a career you never knew existed. Have fun!
Professional members are women in technology, science and engineering careers who want to answer your questions, mentor you, or even provide you the opportunity to do a Job Shadow! During a Job Shadow, you spend the day with a Professional Member at their place of employment for a real world experience on the job!
To sign up for a Job Shadow, you can fill out this form.
You must be signed in with your unique username and password in order to view the Professional Member profiles.
IGNITE Presentation Events
These presentation events are the heart of what IGNITE is all about.
Professional women come to your school and tell their personal story about the fun, interesting jobs they do every day and share how they got there. Beginning from what they were like in high school to what they did from there. They share the obstacles that they faced and how they overcame them to create the success they have acquired. Most importantly, they give you some advice on how you can proceed to be the greatest success that you can be.
You can also ask them questions and create an on-going mentoring relationship.
IGNITE Field Trips
We travel to many sites. In Seattle, we visit Microsoft, Adobe, Attachmate, Real Networks, Seattle Central Community College, Cisco Systems; the list is actually very long.
At an industry site, we will do a tour and then have lunch with women who work at the company. They will do an IGNITE Presentation and share their story with you. It's a fantastic day meeting women where they work.
On IGNITE field trips, we visit colleges and focus on meeting young women who are in technology and engineering programs. Meeting with these professional women and visiting these places will help you know what you can expect. Also you will get to ask questions that will help you make good choices.
IGNITE Conferences
We have had conferences at local high tech and engineering companies and at college campuses. Conferences focus on providing workshops, real life experience and choices on what you would like to learn more about.
IGNITE Job Shadows
We create Job Shadow days so you can go with a group of girls from yourschool and get matched up with a woman in an industry you have interest in learning about. You can also do a Job Shadow on your own, by using our Professional Member Profiles.
IGNITE Student Internships, Scholarships and Grants
IGNITE helps you find internships, scholarships and many other opportunities in your area. We keep our website updated so that you can get the current information on what is available to you in your area.
All you have to do to be in IGNITE is show up. Get signed up online with your own account. Participate in the forum or just come to an event and have fun! Welcome!
Below we have outlined several different ways to be involved in IGNITE:
Local Chapter IGNITE Events
If we have IGNITE events at your school, you can contact the Chapter Administrator listed under your school on the IGNITE Chapter interactive map.
Hint: IGNITE Chapters are listed by State, City and School District.
Also, if there is no IGNITE Chapter at your school, please send Cathi an email and she can help you get one started.
The Chapter Administrator will notify you about any and all IGNITE events happening in your local School District or Member School at the email address you provided in your Student Member Profile.
IGNITE Online
You can set up a Student Member Profile by filling out the Student Member sign up form. Once you have a unique username and password, log on and you will have access our Professional Members to ask questions about your future career options and even search for a Job Shadow and Mentoring opportunity.
We have lots of great resources on our website. Please use them to let us help you discover new career options.
Our goal of course, is to get an IGNITE Chapter at your school if there isn't one. We want to get your school into the IGNITE Program and provide all the opportunities that it offers.
Yes, most definitely. Many Students who started with IGNITE in high school have since graduated from college and gone on to careers in engineering and technology. Throughout their journey, they have continued their involvement with IGNITE and helped the next generation of students.
Volunteer FAQ
Volunteering is just one part of being a Professional Member. IGNITE’s Professional Membership provides an opportunity for people in technology and engineering and other interested community members to actively support and promote the goals and principles of IGNITE. Professional Memberships cost sixty dollars a year.
IGNITE has many volunteer opportunities. The most important one is to give your time.
Some women lead committee's that identify and support the important goals IGNITE has earmarked for success to achieve. Some Volunteers come out to the schools and present their career story to a group of young women who are looking for ideas about their future.
There are panels set up at each IGNITE Chapter School District and Member School throughout the school year that plan and organize the Presentations, Field trips and Conferences that are held for the girls to participate in.
We always need more help!
- Writing grant and funding submissions
- Creating new Professional Memberships
- Grassroots Fundraising
- Finding Scholarship Opportunities
- Finding Job Shadow Experiences
- Media outreach and Press Releases
- Writing articles for our website
- Creating new forum topics
- Starting up new IGNITE Chapters, and much more.
We welcome your ideas and your energy to achieve them.
Please purchase a Professional Membership. One of the IGNITE Staff or your local Chapter Administrator will be in touch very soon to let you know how to get involved with IGNITE and the fabulous opportunities we offer these young women and girls. If there is not a local Chapter listed in your area, please email Cathi Rodgveller and she can help you start a Chapter in your area!
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