2026 App Challenge Speaker
Dr. Natalie Lao is the Executive Director of the App Inventor Foundation, whose mission is to empower anyone, anywhere, of any age to create meaningful technologies that can transform their lives and the lives of people around them. She joined the MIT App Inventor Lab as an undergraduate research assistant during her studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she received her B.S., M.Eng., and Ph.D. in EECS and AI. At MIT, she was Co-creator and Instructor for the Deep Learning Practicum course, and led the trajectory team for the Inclusive AI Literacy and Learning project. Her research on databases, AI, ML, and educational frameworks has been featured by MIT News and UNESCO. Natalie also serves as Individual Specialist for UNESCO’s AI & the Futures of Learning project.
Dr. Natalie Lao
Executive Director of the App Inventor Foundation
Volunteer for the App Challenge
Join us and volunteer on April 25, 2026.
The format is. 2 or 3 judges paired with a moderator. The group enters successive team breakout rooms to judge each individual teams. Each group judges about 7 teams. You will be provided with Demo videos for each of your teams to review prior to the competition. You will also be asked to attend a 30min- 1hr training offered prior to the competition to assure you understand logins and our competition platform.
2026 Event Details:
- Date: Saturday, April 25, 2026
- Location: Online (login details and instructions will be provided prior to the event)
- Time Commitment:
- You will log in at 8:30 AM MDT.
- Judging will conclude by 12:00 PM MDT.
- You are welcome to stay at 12:00 PM to hear our guest speakers or watch the finals round starting at 12:30 PM.
Key Information for Judges and Moderators prior to the competition:
- Log in prior to the competition to familiarize yourself with the platform.
- A video meeting will be held beforehand to review procedures and answer questions.
- Tech Support will be available on the day of the competition for assistance.
Judging Process:
- Teams will present their projects in individual breakout rooms.
- Judges will be provided with a judging rubric prior to the competition.
- Judges and Moderators will circulate together in groups (typically 2–3 judges and 1 moderator) between team rooms.
- Each team has 5 minutes to present, then 5 minutes for judges’ questions, and then the judges have 5 minutes to score.
- For Judges, we will be sending out demonstration videos for the team apps you’ll be judging prior to the competition.
- After the preliminary judging concludes at 12:00 PM, scores will be tallied, and the top 6 teams will advance to the finals.
- These finalists will compete to determine the final placements, and each top team will receive scholarships to be divided among team members.
We deeply appreciate your willingness to dedicate your time to this event. Each year, it is thrilling to see the amazing projects these young women create. This competition is truly a unique opportunity to witness their creativity and innovation firsthand, and their contagious enthusiasm makes it even more inspiring.
Finals Judges
Tanya Ramond
Dr. Tanya Ramond thrives at the intersection of science and engineering, business and
entrepreneurship, and investing & mentoring. She earned her PhD in quantum physics from the
University of Colorado Boulder and her postdoc from the National Institute of Standards and
Technology. Her technical career spans roles in aerospace systems engineering, engineering
management, and product development. As her passion morphed from technology creation to
technology adoption, her interests pivoted to the business space. She earned her MBA from
the University of Denver and moved into senior product strategy roles in various startup
companies in aerospace, laser communications, and quantum technologies. Dr. Ramond offers
an investor lens as a reviewer for startup grants at the state and federal levels, and mentoring for
Techstars and various other startup accelerators, and serves as an Advisor for Stout Street
Capital. She served as a board member of the Colorado Photonics Industry Association for six
years. Dr. Ramond is the CEO of Sapienne Consulting, which specializes in commercialization
and product strategy in deep tech companies. She is currently the Business Development
Lead at the Colorado Quantum Incubator.
Laura Garbacz
Laura recently retired from a 36-year career in technology. Most recently, she led Deloitte Consulting’s Technology Alliance Relationship teams and led IT-enabled business transformations for large global companies. With a degree in Management Information Systems from Simmons College in 1986, she was one of the few women studying computer science at that time.
Laura and her family have called Montana’s Flathead Valley home for the past 16 years. Her son said, “The best decision the family ever made was moving to Montana,” as he enjoyed all that Montana’s outdoors and schools have to offer as a skier, athlete, and debater.
Kelly Ingham
At Meta, Kelly leads global partnerships as VP of Wearables Devices & Research Partnerships, driving first-of-their-kind collaborations across AR, AI, and wearable devices. She is a high-energy, innovative executive with a track record of building and leading “zero-to-one” teams, architecting new business ventures, and scaling strategic partnerships in both startup and enterprise environments. Kelly is experienced in managing complex global teams and building sustainable, profitable, IP-driven technology platforms, with deep expertise across APAC markets and a strong understanding of regional customers, suppliers, and ecosystems.
App Challenge
Code Girls United’s App Challenge is a Virtual Event taking place on the Saturday in April.
Participants include 4th-8th grade girl teams. Teams all participate in year-round, afterschool Code Girls United programs throughout the state of Montana.
The girls compete for scholarship prizes given to the top six teams. Each team splits the scholarship prize awarded to the team.
The girls are tasked with choosing a community problem to solve with an app. They write a business plan that includes marketing research and a competitive analysis, create requirements documents, design a product logo, create the app design, code the app, and present their project in what we formally called “minnow tank – the kinder gentler shark tank” format. The project itself is a real-world simulation of a software company’s conception, development, and sales cycle.
Throughout the project, the girls learn practical career skills such as:
- How to work in a team and be a reliable, productive team member
- How to make decisions as a team
- How to work with people you may disagree with to reach your goals
- How to set goals
- How to manage time
- How to divide up tasks
- How to account for tasks
- How to organize your work together
- How to make a good presentation
- How to create a Google Slide presentation
- What bullet points are and how to use them
The skills the girls learn as a part of their projects can be transferrable to any type of career path. The combination of technical and business skills are extremely valuable in today’s workforce, and this early exposure assures that they will gain confidence in both their technical and business skills.
Please consider Sponsoring or Volunteering your time as a judge for Code Girls United’s App Challenge.
