Girls Who Code were the winners of the first $50,000 IBM Open Source Community Grant. Girls Who Code is a nonprofit organization working to increase the number of women working in computer science.

Girls Who Code helps girls to learn more about computer science through after-school classes and summer courses. Along with the advancement of IT knowledge, women also gain confidence in their capabilities.

In a blog posted on Monday, IBM said the community grant will be awarded to a different organization on a quarterly basis to help "promote nonprofits that are dedicated to education, inclusiveness, and skill-building for women, underrepresented minorities, and under-served communities."

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“This grant will help close the gender gap in tech, and bring in new minds with new ideas,” said Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, in a statement. “Gender equity is so important to our industry and it’s wonderful to work with IBM to achieve that.”

According to the blog by IBM's Todd Moore, vice president of open technology and developer advocacy and Guillermo Miranda, vice president and global head of corporate social responsibility, the grant included $25,000 in cash as well as a technology award of $25,000 in cloud credits. The inaugural Open Source Community Grant was presented Monday morning at the All Things Open conference in Raleigh.

One of the finalists in this quarter’s grant competition was Outreachy, which sets up three-month paid internships on open source projects for people who ordinarily might not have those opportunities. This includes cisgender and transgender women and men.

The other finalist was PyLadies, of the Python Software Foundation. PyLadies is an international mentorship group helping women become active in the Python open-source community, creating a diverse environment through outreach and education.

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IBM is accepting future nominations at its booth at the All Things Open conference this week.