Just because every step of your future isn't mapped out by your first day of college doesn't mean you won't succeed. Monse Castillo shares the story of how she eventually found her way to computer science — and the discoveries about academics, her university community, and herself that she made along the way.

The best way to understand the shape and power of Break Through Tech’s work is to hear from the people who are part of it — from the young women participating in our innovative programs, to the leaders who host those programs inside their organizations and the team members who run our programs in cities around the country and online. Meet Chu Huang, director of Break Through Tech AI at MIT, a collaboration with MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, home to one of the world’s top-ranked computer science programs and pioneers of breakthrough research in computing and artificial intelligence. Now entering its second year at this location, the program serves diverse undergraduate women and non-binary students from across Greater Boston; between the thriving and historic academic presence in the city and the dozens of startups emerging, it’s a place with lots of students where the tech landscape is evolving every day.

More than 280,000 technology workers have lost their jobs since the start of 2022—and the data shows you’re more likely to have been laid off if you’re a woman.