About Us
Athena Pathways is a partnership of academia, government and industry to educate women in the science and commercialization of artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science (AI/ML/DS) in order to deepen Canada’s talent pool and make it more inclusive while delivering real value in the form of trained interns, workers and executives to businesses that are struggling to find domain expertise.
In addition to drawing more talent into the ecosystem, Athena will work to correct a gender imbalance that threatens the performance of AI technology itself if left unchecked; models are algorithms fitted to data, and diversity is a critical part of accurate models. Women are currently very underrepresented in technology positions, so programs of this sort are crucial to address gender bias.
Athena’s near-term goal of enrolling 500 women in high-school and university courses, as well as providing internships, mentorships, and other workplace opportunities will drastically increase the number of women currently working for industry in these fields.
Steering committee
The Steering Committee is made up of members from our 12 consortium partners. Collectively we organize and manage the operations of the Athena Pathways Project.
The Digital Supercluster
The Digital Technology Supercluster is s cross-industry collaboration that aims to position Canada as a global leader in digital technologies and solve today’s and society’s most challenging problems. The Supercluster co-invests in ambitious technology solutions to improve sustainability and competitiveness of our natural resources, healthcare and industrial sectors, and building capacity in the ecosystem for developing talent and scaling companies. By bringing together small and large companies, research organizations and government agencies, our approach aims to deliver an impact with the speed and magnitude that no single organization could achieve on its own. We are a proud member of a national network of five business-led innovation superclusters that is energizing the economy by fostering new partnerships. The Supercluster manages the investments provided by the Government of Canada’s Innovation Superclusters Initiative and the public and private organizations that constitute its membership.
Hiring Partners
In addition to our consortium partners, we are also working with several companies to provide more employment and mentorship opportunities
Athena Pathways in the Media
Check out what they had to say for the Athena Pathways milestone of helping 250 women within the first year:
BIV:
https://biv.com/article/2021/03/bc-consortium-making-headway-effort-train-500-women-ai-data-science
BC Business:
DailyHive- Venture:
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/athena-pathways-advances-careers-women-ai-data-science
Check out what they had to say about the launch of the Athena Pathways program:
Vancouver Sun:
https://vancouversun.com/technology/women-in-leadership-delivering-innovation-in-stem/
BIV:
https://biv.com/article/2020/03/bcs-athena-industry-initiative-aims-train-500-women-ai