Celebrating Standout Women Innovators
Thanks for letting us introduce you to some incredible app creators. Keep reading below for a closer look at their stories.
Download the Developer Assets
Women Rising
At Apple, we believe that apps for everyone should be made by everyone. We are inspired by the vibrancy and diversity of our app creator community, and we’re committed to making sure everyone has the opportunity to access life-changing technology. Apps are a key tool for impact and are central to the way we live, work, play and take care of ourselves and each other every day.
We’re excited to showcase and amplify the work of these stellar leaders who are claiming space and power, while paving the way for women to shine in fields where they are historically underrepresented.
With the global reach of the App Store, anyone with a great idea and the ability to code can connect with over 650 million people each week across 175 countries. Through programs to accelerate app building, mentorship initiatives, and spotlight opportunities on the App Store, we provide a variety of resources to uplift entrepreneurs from all walks of life.
Meet the App Creators
Jes Wolfe
CEO and Chairwoman,
Rebel Girls
Jes Wolfe is the CEO and chairwoman of Rebel Girls, a certified B Corporation and global multi-platform empowerment brand dedicated to helping raise the most inspired and confident generation of girls through content, experiences, products, and community. Prior to her segue into the startup world, Jes worked for over a decade in strategy and finance roles at Morgan Stanley, the Boston Consulting Group, the International Finance Corporation, and private equity portfolio companies. The Rebel Girls app is a winner of Apple's 2022 Design Awards in the social impact category, and provides a personalized experience where girls can discover, explore and immerse themselves in audio stories of inspiring women from around the world and throughout history.
Rebel Girls
Inspiring Stories of Women
Dayo Akinrinade
CEO and Founder,
Wisdom: Great Advice & People
Dayo is the founder and CEO of Wisdom, a social-discovery app for advice, conversation, and deeper connections. The inspiration for Wisdom came while Dayo was working as an IT management consultant at one of the Big 4 accounting firms. As a first-generation immigrant, she felt she lacked access to exclusive networks to accelerate her career. Thus, Wisdom was conceived as an inclusive community where users can discover and learn from extraordinary humans, meet mentors, and connect with likeminded enthusiasts.
Wisdom: Great Advice & People
Deeper Connections
Angelina Tsuboi
Founder,
Pilot Fast Track
Angelina is a 16-year-old student pilot, software developer, and an Apple's 2022 Student Swift Challenge Winner. She has over 10 years of experience programming software to help develop pragmatic solutions to prevalent problems. She created her app, Pilot Fast Track, to enhance the process in finding scholarships for pilot’s training. She is currently training toward her private pilot license in a Sport Cruiser, and aspires to reduce the barrier of entry to the field. Her app, Pilot Fast Track, helps aspiring aviators find customized flight scholarships, explore opportunities in aviation, and discover resources to fund their aviation endeavors.
Pilot Fast Track
Flight Training Scholarships
Entrepreneur Camp
Research shows that founders from underrepresented communities face unique challenges in technology, especially when starting and leading companies. We created Apple Entrepreneur Camp with the goal of supporting these founders and their organizations as they build the next generation of cutting-edge apps and to form a global network that encourages the pipeline and longevity of underrepresented founders and developers in technology.
Entrepreneur Camp offers cohorts for founders and developers who are female, Black, or Hispanic/Latin and have app-driven businesses with one of the following:
- An existing app on the App Store
- A functional beta build in TestFlight
- An app in an equivalent state
The Camp experience encompasses an immersive technology lab, where participants receive one-on-one code-level guidance from Apple experts and engineers to help them improve their app, as well as mentorship, inspiration, and insights from top Apple leaders. After the lab concludes, founders receive ongoing support and become part of a growing community of other exceptional alumni.
WWDC
Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) is where Apple brings together the global app creator community and provides them with new insights into the technologies, tools and frameworks they rely on. The conference offers developers the opportunity to engage with one another, and directly with Apple engineers and experts for guidance on building innovative and platform-differentiating apps and games.
Every year, Apple also invites talented students and STEAM organization members with an opportunity to participate in the conference. Students apply to attend via the Swift Student Challenge, which gives students from around the world a chance to showcase their love of coding and to recognize innovators of all ages and backgrounds. Apple is proud to support and nurture the next generation of developers through the annual WWDC student program.
REJI
Our Racial Equity and Justice Initiative (REJI) is an effort to address systemic racism and expand opportunities for communities of color across the country.
REJI programs make an impact in three key areas:
Education.
Greater access and greater opportunity. Everyone deserves access to learn the skills needed for the workforce of today and tomorrow. Apple partners with institutions to make that real.
Criminal justice.
An unfair system is unfit for everyone. The criminal justice system disproportionately fails communities of color. Apple supports organizations working to end mass incarceration and defend civil rights.
Economic empowerment.
For today’s entrepreneurs. Black and Brown business owners deserve a fair shot and a fair share. Through mentorship and financial investments, Apple backs founders who have historically been cut out of funding opportunities.
Swift Playgrounds
Swift Playgrounds is a revolutionary app for iPad and Mac that makes learning to code interactive and fun. It requires no coding knowledge, so it’s perfect for students just starting out or exploring new career paths. By offering simple puzzles to master the basics, as well as more advanced playgrounds, Swift is the ideal tool to grow your skills and unleash your creativity. Used by the pros to build today’s most popular apps, the limits are unstoppable once you get started with Swift.
Apple believes that coding and app design are essential literacies — these skills help students think critically and creatively, regardless of whether they pursue a career in app development. In an effort to make coding more accessible, Apple created a free curriculum to teach Swift both in and out of the classroom. Taught by Apple experts, the course is designed to help instructors acquire the skills they need to teach Swift and Xcode. By providing these resources to support educators, Apple is on a mission to prepare students to be the innovators of tomorrow, whether they’re just getting started or ready to build their first app.
To learn more about Swift Playgrounds, start your coding journey here