Pearl Hacks is a strictly women participant hackathon held at the UNC Chapel Hill campus. In 2015, it was held on Saturday, March 21st to Sunday, March 22nd.
Representatives from well-known companies--including Google, IBM, and others--set up booths that participants can access and ask questions and converse with the representatives.
Saturday features a collection of workshops throughout the afternoon to help those new to software and hardware learn the basics, and there are classes for those above the beginner range as well.
This hackathon gives participants those two days to design web sites, apps, other software, and hardware to compete for a variety of prizes, many of which are gifted by the sponsors.
It is a free event--food is free too--that shuttles students from colleges around the state, and it is very common for girls from outside the state to fly in.
The event also presents varying tech talks Saturday afternoon hosted by representatives and experts. Mentors are readily available at any time, and Pearl Hacks in general is a very friendly event.
TechGirlz, was originally started in Philidelphia, but has since opened some classes in North Carolina. It is a non-profit organization that holds classes and interviews with women in the field of technology.
The organization is aimed towards girls in middle school and even offers a summer camp to help them make that leap into the technological field.
Girl Develop It is a nonprofit organization that provides classes and support for women looking towards the technology field. They are now settled in 46 states around the US and was founded by Vanessa Hurst and Sara Chipps in 2010.
Courses are available online for basic classes on a variety of coding software.
Black Girls Code specifically targets young African American girls from ages 7-17.
Kimodo--code software that has a variety of programs to code in such as html, css, etc.
Python--basic code
w3schools--incredibly helpful site for a variety of short, simple tutorials on may coding programs
Codecademy
Code
Code Combat--learn how to program with a multiplayer coding game