Investing in Innovation

Technovation empowers young innovators around the world to become leaders, technology innovators and real-world problem solvers.

Technovation has been pushing the boundaries of education and innovation for almost 20 years. From the beginning, our focus has been on staying agile and preparing students for the technologies shaping the future.

This track record of innovation has shaped who we are today: the world’s largest technology accelerator for young people and one of the largest global communities of alumnae, mentors, and ambassadors.

Our recipe? Analyze, execute, prepare for tomorrow.

• Evidence-based evolution. We don’t guess what works. We rigorously analyze learning data, collaborate with diverse researchers, and recalibrate our curriculum based on what the evidence tells us.
• Community-powered impact. Our network of local organizations, mentors, and ambassadors understand what their communities need. They help us stay relevant, bringing real-world insights that keep our approach grounded and responsive.
• A lifetime of support. Our alumnae don’t just graduate—they return as mentors, advocates, and innovators themselves, creating a living feedback loop. They show us where the world is heading because they’re building it.

Our Promise

Technovation doesn’t stop at sparking interest in STEM—we are committed to breaking down barriers and expanding access for all our participants and community members. We focus on:

• Resources: Expanding access to material, human, and social support systems.
• Agency: Building participants’ abilities, confidence, and voice at home, school, work, and in their communities.
• Achievements: Driving meaningful improvements in well-being and life outcomes that come from increased agency and cognitive skills (Kabeer, 1999).

Technovation began in 2006, when Tara Chklovski – then a PhD student in Aerospace Engineering at USC – saw a way to change the world. She believed education could break the link between where you’re born and what you can achieve, and that STEM offered a powerful pathway to unlock that potential. Driven by this conviction, Tara founded Iridescent (now Technovation). The name “Iridescent” reflected her vision: when you understand the science and engineering behind how the world works, fear gives way to curiosity, and everyday things reveal new layers of beauty. A flower, for example, becomes breathtaking not only for its colors, but for the physics that makes it bloom. The world, in turn, becomes brighter, more colorful – iridescent. Iridescent’s goal was to bring the most cutting-edge technologies and engineering marvels to underserved communities so that they would be inspired and equipped to become inventors and innovators.

Our first program, Family Science, began in 2006 at a single school in Los Angeles. From there, it spread across Southern California and eventually to San Francisco and New York. In 2010, we launched Technovation Girls. For almost 13 years we experimented intensely, running different types of programs with students of all ages, gender and from all communities across the world. For each program we collected and analyzed learning data to see which one was resulting in the deepest and most durable impact. One program quickly rose to the top – which was Technovation girls. Over the course of a rigorous three-month curriculum, students worked in teams – guided by a mentor – to identify a pressing problem in their community and design a technology solution to address it. They tested their ideas with real users, refined their prototypes, and built a robust business plan to bring their solutions to market.

Multi year longitudinal studies showed that the model was the most cost-efficient way of helping students develop durable identities as problem solvers. For just $250 – about $4 an hour – a girl received 100 hours of a world-class, cutting-edge technology and entrepreneurship curriculum, guided mentorship, and the chance to participate in a global program. Beyond those 12 weeks, she gained lifelong access to a vibrant alumna community of innovators and leaders, plus a prestigious certification of participation that helped unlock entry into top colleges.

Recognizing this, in August 2019 we committed fully to this model, changed our name to Technovation, and focused on scaling the program with the greatest proven impact. Today, Technovation is the only global program with longitudinal data proving the effectiveness of this approach. But the impact goes far beyond the numbers: students don’t just learn skills—they are transformed. They develop a lasting identity as problem-solvers, innovators, and leaders. Our alumnae are now running startups, pioneering new technologies, and driving progress as leaders across industries and communities worldwide. And what makes this transformation possible is not just the skills we teach, but the mindset we cultivate—the conviction that anyone, anywhere, can be an innovator.