Providing a Platform for Girls in STEAM

Published in

ChangemakerZ Interviews

4 min readApr 17, 2021

Shivali Gulati is a high school junior from California. In December 2018, she founded Girl Genius Magazine, an online magazine created by aspiring girls in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) which provides a platform for girls to learn about women in STEAM, showcase their projects, studies, and works, as well as connect with girls nationwide. Today, her team connects 90+ girls interested in STEAM from over 21 different countries.

Question 1 : Could you tell us about what inspired you to start Girls Genius Magazine?

I created Girl Genius Magazine after first-hand seeing the impact of girls being involved in STEM programs, such as Kode With Klossy, Girls Who Code, and #BUILTBYGIRLS. I really liked how each of these organizations provided girls with the resources needed to learn more about technology and connected girls regionally. However, in my community, there weren’t many girls interested in technology and I wanted to create a platform where girls from all over the world with like-minded interests could connect and work on projects, despite being 3000 miles away from one another.

Question 2 : Teamwork is key to making the dream work. How did you build your team and how do you communicate with them? What makes a good team member? How do you manage such a large team effectively?

In the early stages of Girl Genius Magazine, I primarily reached out to high school girls at my school interested in STEAM and spoke at many female-oriented clubs to bring awareness to this project. In order to reach more girls globally, our team promoted Girl Genius Magazine on platforms such as RoundPier, Instagram, and several slack groups, which led to our great team of 90 girls. During issue one, I communicated with our team through group chats which was initially difficult since I was trying to manage several girls on different time zones for the first time. By leading this team, I can say that a good team member shows support for every team, proposes their ideas to better Girl Genius Magazine, and has strong communication skills. Although Girl Genius Magazine is an online community, we stress the importance of getting to know everyone on your team and learning about their interests. For issue one, I was the only one managing the team, but now I have 13 amazing directors who supervise each team and ensure that each team is productive and has a say in the upcoming issue.

One thing I learned from starting Girl Genius Magazine was trusting others to help you accomplish your vision and I’m very happy to be working with girls who are motivated and believe in the message we are establishing with our magazine.

Question 3 : What are the interdisciplinary aspects that go into the creation of the magazine?

With over thirteen teams, I can simply say, there are many! Each team has its own interdisciplinary aspects, but the main aspect would be the intersection of technology and fields of STEAM since everything is produced online. Whether you’re a writer or a financial manager, everything is done using online platforms, so it is vital that our team members have strong technology skills in order to successfully contribute to our team.

Question 4 : How were you able to market Girl Genius Magazine and get readers?

I truly could not have done this without our head of YouTube, Priyanshi Nigam, the partnership team, and my social media team! Before issue one was published, Priyanshi and I connected and she began our first YouTube series, “Letting Off Steam”, which interviews women in steam. As our video series gained traction, she helped Girl Genius Magazine establish partnerships with leading women in technology organizations, #BUILTBYGIRLS and Wogrammer, which helped introduce Girl Genius Magazine to over 32,000 girls. From our first takeover on #BUILTBYGIRLS, I realized how powerful our message was and immediately focussed on how to market our magazine through Instagram, Linkdeln, Facebook, and YouTube. Currently, our partnership and social media teams are working on highlighting female-driven initiatives/role-models on our Instagram and acknowledging female accomplishments — including members of our team and our following! The support our initiative gets would not be possible without their hard work!