The IGNITE Brighter Future Walk was a great success today – we raised nearly $5,000 (and will probably surpass that with matching corporate funds) and saw both familiar faces in addition to some new faces – like a large contingent of lovely ladies from GeekGirlCon, where coincidentally I’ll be speaking in October! (Date and time TBD.) We also presented one of the participating students with a $1500 scholarship courtesy of Microsoft!

As for me, I walked three miles less than 2 weeks post-knee surgery, with a little jogging thrown in for good measure, and I’m holding up well! It was a personal victory just as much as it was an organizational one.

If you’re inspired by IGNITE’s mission – to empower girls around the globe, inspiring them with confidence in their own abilities and encouraging them to consider careers in science and technology – and would like to become more involved, please get in touch. You can either email volunteer at ignite-us.org to express interest, or comment here to get in touch with me if you have more questions. The summer is a time for us to regroup with school out of session – the perfect opportunity to get in on the ground floor for the 2011-2012 school year!

Many thanks to all who participated or donated. Your help means a great deal to the girls we serve, and we have some exciting plans for the year to come. If you didn’t get a chance to donate, we’re always accepting donations, and every little bit helps! Our fundraising efforts are far from over, but this was certainly the boost we needed to establish our momentum.

I’ll be back tomorrow with Part 2 of “What Comes After Ever After” and my personal Randy Pausch story. Plus another story inspired by other events from today about my history with Elmo.