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02/07/12 | Uncategorized

U.S. Department Of Labor Launches Equal Pay App Contest (Deadline To Apply: April 17, 2012)

By Kelly Hoey (Co-Founder & Managing Director, Women Innovate Mobile)
Just off a call with Brian Forde, Advisor to the United States CTO on Mobile and Data Innovation.

It was a “how do we get the word out to developers” call – obviously not a tough conversation when Women 2.0 is involved.

This app challenge has some beyond the usual government contest features, including an incredible line-up of judges who are reviewing the submissions (Nilofer Merchant and Joanne Wilson are two of the judges) and then there are some cool prizes for the winners including General Assembly Scholarships (5), a two-day bootcamp organized by Women Innovate Mobile and a non-profit app award from Catalyst.

Yes, Women Innovate Mobile – Veronika Sonsev, Deborah Jackson and myself feel strongly about the opportunities offered by this DOL app challenge or we wouldn’t have put our name, networks and ideas behind it. Help us spread the word!

Here’s the official info on the challenge from the Dept of Labor:

Equal Pay App Challenge

The U.S. Department of Labor just launched the Equal Pay App Challenge on Challenge.gov.

The contest calls on developers to use publicly available data and resources to create innovative, easy-to-use apps that educate users about the pay gap and provide tools to combat it. The apps should improve the accessibility of pay data broken down by gender, race and ethnicity, and provide coaching on early career pay, pay negotiation or career mentorship. Below you will find a list of resources that can be shared with potential participants and supporters of the Equal Pay App Challenge.

Each submission should achieve at least one of the following goals:

  1. Provide greater access to pay data by gender, race, and ethnicity
  2. Provide tools for early career coaching
  3. Help inform negotiations
  4. Promote online mentoring. Additional information can be found here

A total of eight (8) prizes will be awarded, including five (5) grand prizes and three (3) goals challenge prizes – winners will be announce at or around April 17, 2012. Additional prize information is here.

There are a total of 13 judges supporting the Equal Pay App Challenge, encompassing government, technology entrepreneurship, and advocacy. A complete list of judges can be found here.

Resources

Equal Pay App Challenge Information:

Department of Labor Resources:

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Resources:

Supporter Resources:

Contestants must register for the contest on Challenge.gov by creating an account between January 31, 2012 and March 31, 2012. All entries received after March 31, 2012 will not be considered for prizes.

You can support the Equal Pay App Contest via Twitter by following @usdol and using the hashtag #EqualPayApps. You can always retweet DOL’s message found here or use your own – I have included some suggested language:

“Can u create innovative, easy-to-use apps that educate users about pay gap & provide tools to combat it? http://equalpay.challenge.gov/ #equalpayapps”.

You can also support the challenge by visiting the Department of Labor’s Facebook account and sharing it with your network.

Editor’s note: Got a question for our guest blogger? Leave a message in the comments below.
kelly_hoeyAbout the guest blogger: Kelly Hoey is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Women Innovate Mobile, the first accelerator program for women founded (or co-founded) startups focused on mobile technology or mobile applications. She sits on the Women’s Advisory Board for mobile and social gaming company, Stone Creek Entertainment and the startup advisory boards of Lion’esque Style and The Levo League. She is a business strategic and connector. Follow her on Twitter at @jkhoey.

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