After a nationwide search of nearly 500 candidates, Girl Develop It found the right full-time hires right here in Philly.

Bindu Jallabah and LaVonna Ricketts, Operations Director and Program Director, respectively, are the org’s first full-time staff additions in the past two years.

“Bindu and LaVonna bring passion and energy, and that combined with their incredible wealth of experience makes them the perfect hires to join Girl Develop It at a time when we are preparing to scale our organization and impact even further,” said Corinne Warnshuis, executive director of the nonprofit that hosts software training courses for women.

In her new role, Jallabah will focus on boosting the operational infrastructure of GDI’s central headquarters, which currently supports 67,000 members. In her position, Ricketts will focus on leading the expansion of Girl Develop It’s chapter-based program, adding new cities to the existing 54 chapters.

It has indeed been a busy few weeks for the organization. Just check out Warnshuis’ tweetstorm on what’s been going on: from a partnership with Salesforce to an appearance at the United State of Women summit at the White House.

Warnshuis even met Lenny Kravitz.

“We are thrilled to bring two brilliant new team members on board to really level up Girl Develop It programs,” GDI cofounder and adviser Vanessa Hurst said in a statement. “Together, we’ll reach thousands more students and improve support for our 200+ local leaders across the US.”
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Roberto Torres became Technical.ly Lead Philly Reporter in May 2016. Prior, he was a freelance contributor to Technical.ly and Al Dia News. The native Venezuelan moved to Philadelphia in 2015 after reporting on research at his alma mater, the University of Zulia. Whenever he’s not fencing deadlines, he can be found standing in line at Overbrook Pizza in West Philly, running Netflix/Hulu marathons with his girlfriend or reading news from Venezuela.