By Jennifer Openshaw
This month, more than 250 CEOs — including Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and the College Board’s David Coleman — urged states to require computer science (CS) for all high school students.
Framing it as: “This is not just an education issue,” they wrote. “It’s about closing skills and income gaps… and keeping America competitive.”
And the data backs them up: Students who take CS courses in high school earn 8% more — even if they don’t go to college.
When student s f rom underrepresented backgrounds gain access, the payoff is even greater.
But in a world where AI can already write code, teaching tech alone is shortsighted. Without pairing it with critical thinking, communication, and leadership, we risk producing technically proficient – but without strategic substance – graduates.
The Other Skills America Needs
While computer science opens doors, the most in-demand skills today are human. LinkedIn, Harvard, and McKinsey all say the same thing: employers are hiring for communication, resilience, critical thinking, and collaboration. The other skills our classrooms don’t yet prioritize.
In fact, research from Harvard and Stanford shows that 85% of career success comes from soft (professional) skills, not hard skills.
If schools or colleges don’t prioritize the skills, someone has to step in.
Girls With Impact (GWI) is uniquely filling that gap — combining business, tech, and leadership education so that our young women and girls don’t just survive in the workplace; they thrive and lead with a solid foundation.
GWI is also tackling the bigger economic opportunity…
The CEOs are right: requiring at least one computer science class could unlock $660 billion in economic potential. But that impact grows exponentially when we intentionally reach young women — closing both the tech gender gap and the wage gap.
Another $7 Trillion, according to the World Economic Forum, when you also close the gender gap.
In Connecticut, women earn only 84 cents for every dollar paid to men, and even more so in the finance and insurance industry, a major sector in Connecticut. Despite women comprising over half of the workforce in this industry, they earn only 43% of what men earn, translating to a staggering $156,000 disparity per year.
Why? Because too few women make it past the “broken rung” of the career ladder. Which is why GWI also teaches the essential soft skills – now called “power skills” – to ensure they are prepared to lead from Day 1 and then leap past the “broken rung.”
Mindset is the New Competitive Edge
Technical skills evolve fast, but a growth mindset, entrepreneurial thinking, and resilience are what drive career agility and long-term leadership – including those of these CEOs.
Especially in an AI-driven world, it’s not just what you know — it’s how you think. ICEOs even in our own backyard are working to instill that mindset in their employees, at all levels.
Instilling that CEO mindset early on though — training our young people to think creatively, embrace uncertainty, and lead with confidence – will also help set them up for success when they take that very first step into the work world via an internship or volunteer role. They’ll engage, ask questions, and grow versus just sitting back and waiting for direction.
The best part: Success breeds success. Succeeding in the earliest steps in their career will lead to new learning opportunities, recommendations, referrals, and the start of that necessary network.
From Greenwich to National Impact
Here in Greenwich, we’ve seen firsthand what happens when students are equipped with the right tools.
Take Angelina, a college student in Stamford and GWI graduate who used her training to help her Ukrainian parents launch a furniture business — building a website, creating financial projections, and helping them pursue the American dream.
Or the many Greenwich teens who have gone through our 10-week Business & Leadership Academy, leveraged coding skills, and emerged with ventures addressing real-world problems, from mental health to climate change — and presenting to corporate leaders at places like the NASDAQ or this Wednesday’s “Summer of Success” Community Event at Teen Arch Center (more: bit.ly/PackForImpact)
These young women and girls aren’t waiting for opportunity — they’re creating it.
GWI’s Scalable Solution
Girls With Impact’s goal is bold: equip 50,000 young women nationwide with the skills to succeed in the modern workplace. And we’re doing it in a way that’s scalable, cost-effective, and proven — with outcomes like:
– 93% say they now see themselves as leaders
– 91% improve their confidence in public speaking and decision-making
– Many go on to top colleges and competitive internships
And it all started right here in Greenwich — a community that has long been home to leaders, innovators, and philanthropists.
How You Can Help
Whether you’re a parent, educator or business leader, you know the future depends on the talent pipeline. Let’s make sure it includes women who are ready to lead.
– Partner with us to build future female talent- Invest in the skills that AI can’t replace
– Join GWI’s Summer of Success Event Wednesday, June 25. Bring Friends, Families, Employees to make an impact. Register here: bit.ly/PackForImpact
Let’s move beyond AI-literacy — and prepare the next generation of leaders to shape the world AI is building.
Jennifer Openshaw is Founder & CEO of Greenwich-based Girls With Impact (GWI), a 501c3 and the nation’s leading business & leadership prep program for young women 14-24. Summer programs available now @ girlswithimpact.org
