Program Coordinators

Mridula (Mally) Shan

A Senior at Basis San Antonio Shavano Campus and the AspireIT leader for Represent IT, Mridula Shan is a 3 time NCWIT - San Antonio Winner, an Oracle Certified Junior Java Associate Programmer, a National Merit Semi-Finalist, the captain of her all-girls Nationally qualified Girls Go Cyber Start team, a National AP Scholar, a Nationally qualified Lincoln-Douglas Debater, a Congressional App Challenge Winner/Ambassador, a winner for Google's Change the Game contest, and the founder/creator of the online peer tutoring platform askthecat.org. She would like to remain eager and enthusiastic about learning throughout her life.

Dr. Jeong Yang

Dr. Jeong Yang is an assistant professor in the Department of Computing and Cyber Security at Texas A&M University-San Antonio. Her research focuses on designing Cyber Security Modules with their implementations and evaluations, secure code analysis and visualization using static analysis tools, and application security on various platforms such as stand-alone software systems and cloud-based or mobile applications. The research also focuses on computing and cyber security education including the participation of women. Her research has been supported by the grants awarded from NSF, NSA, and A&M-SA’s Initiative seed fund. She is the recipient of the Facebook Cybersecurity Academic Scholarship, the Malala Yousafzai Award for A&M-SA Jaguar Women Rock, and the Distinguished Faculty Award for Scholarly, Research, or Artistic Achievement. She is a member of the IEEE Computer Society, ACM, ACM-W, Women in Cyber Security (WiCyS), SWE(Society of Women Engineers), and NCWIT (National Center for Women & Information Technology).

Dr. Barbara Hewitt

Barbara Hewitt received her Ph.D. in Information Technology (IT) and her BS in Computer Science from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She also has a Master in Business Administration from Texas State University. She teaches Health Information Management in the College of Health Professions at Texas State University including courses in Data Privacy and Security, Project Management, and Information Systems Technology for Healthcare. Her research interests include securing information systems including electronic health records, knowledge sharing, gamification of electronic health records, and healthy people behaviors including wearables. She has papers in Communication of the Association of Information Systems, International Journal of Knowledge Management, Journal of Information Privacy and Security. International Journal of Healthcare Technology, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Behavioral and Information Technology, Perspectives in Health Information Management, and DATA BASE.

Program Educators

Elena Garza

A senior at Basis San Antonio Shavano Campus, Elena Garza is a National Merit Commended Scholar, a recipient of College Board’s Hispanic Merit Recognition Program, a third and fourth place winner in the National Latin Exam, and a National AP Scholar. In her free time, she volunteers with the San Antonio Math Include and Leaders United for Change as a peer tutor and at the San Antonio Humane Society as an active member of the shelter. She is an avid learner and possesses a desire to understand everything about our world.

Jelisha Perera

I am a senior at BASIS San Antonio Shavano, I participate in Cyberpatriots and Girls Go Cyberstart competitions, specializing in Windows. Some of my hobbies include cooking, taking walks outside, and watching t.v

ABOUT OUR PROGRAM

Represent I.T. is a National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT) AspireIT program, designed to teach young girls computational thinking and technology skills in a fun, creative, and hands-on environment. NCWIT AspireIT Programs are supported through the supervision and guidance of partner organizations like Texas A&M - San Antonio and Texas State University.

Texas A&M - San Antonio is a military embracing institution whose mission is to support veterans, military personnel and their immediate family affiliation. The Department of Computing and Cyber Security (CCS) runs the Center for Information Technology and Cyber Security, which is NSA/CDE designated for providing CyberSecurity-related education and research. The university has always made a concerted effort to support under-represented communities in the San Antonio area, and their supportive and knowledgeable faculty and students in the CSS department can provide immense support in implementing a program that encourages more students to join and see a viable path into the field of CyberSecurity.