geekGIRL: Agent Moira Hardek, On a Mission to Get Girls Excited About Tech

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Jennifer Latkiewicz

geekGIRL highlights the most amazing, brilliant, bold and of course, fabulous women who are making a splash in the tech world and inspiring others to proudly let their geek flag fly. This week, geekGLOSS profiles Moira Hardek, a Geek Squad Agent on a serious mission.

Three years ago, Moira Hardek, a trained ‘Special Agent’ with the tech support task force known as the Geek Squad, decided she wanted to do something about the lack of women in technology. Fueled by a newfound passion to encourage young women’s interest in technology, and to create awareness of its unlimited uses and opportunities, Moira helped launch the Geek Squad Summer Academy, a bootcamp offering students an in-depth yet accessible introduction. While the original goal was to inspire young women to pursue careers in the technology, Moira and her fellow Geek Squad Agents have since expanded the Summer Academy into a nationwide program to include thousands of teens, regardless of gender.

For the last three years, Moira has continued to devote her time and passion to the program, managing to balance her duties as both Summer Academy Project Manager and Geek Squad Agent. Her motivation? ”What would the world be like, a world that is shaped now by technology, if women were a driving force behind the creation of technology products and services. Now THAT, I want to see.”

A native of Chicago, Moira was introduced to technology at an early age by her father who worked in the industry and has loved it ever since. “Technology is so wonderful and I think those of us in technology know that and just want to share it,” she says. Moira is currently on the road (Summer Academy will hit 27 cities in 19 states by the time it wraps up in August), but lucky for us, she managed to find some time for geekGLOSS.

Awesomely down-to-earth and passionate about her work, Moira took a few minutes to discuss how young girls will change the world, what her students say that breaks her heart and of course, TV’s “Chuck” – Geek Squad super spies? Read on!

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geekGLOSS: What made you want to start Geek Squad Summer Academy?

Moira Hardek: So many things went into the initial creation of Geek Squad Summer Academy. If I had to pick one thing that set me on the path to do this it would be the moment I raised my head, looked around and noticed that I wasn’t working with other women. I loved working with the other Agents, who are very much like brothers to me, but there were almost no other women. I honestly didn’t notice at first and once I did, I set out to find out why and to fix it. Women weren’t going into the IT field as an area of study or for a potential career, and I realized we have to get women interested in technology at a younger age if we want to fix this pipeline issue… and the original idea of the first Geek Squad Summer Academy started to come to life.


gG: Walk us through a day at the academy. What can students expect to learn from a session with the Geek Squad?

MH: The best part about Summer Academy, in my opinion, is how hands-on it is. Each camp can have different classes, but all the classes require an extremely large amount of hardware. We all know that learning about technology can be boring and no one wants to hear about it… but they do want to play with it and give things a try. I think that’s what sets us apart. So it’s not just learning what all the parts of a computer do – it’s seeing them, touching them and actually building a working computer in our PC Basics class. It’s not just learning about all the new technology and techniques available out there in the music, photography and video realm – it’s actually using digital cameras and camcorders, instruments and computers with the right software, and actually making and editing your own creation to take home.

The same concept applies to the rest of our classes, all of which can be found on our website. We’ve always said “it’s not what we teach, it’s how we teach” and that’s where the Geek Squad culture really comes in. Camp is so fun, interactive, it’s a little silly, it’s loud – it’s not your typical learning environment, yet every student walks away with greater knowledge and, more importantly, a greater comfort level around technology… and they had so much fun they didn’t even realize they were learning.


gG: Are you finding that the kids are getting more and more tech-savvy with each year? It’s as if they’re coming out of the womb already knowing how to operate iPhones!

MH: I guess it depends on your definition of “tech-savvy”. I think kids are much more accustomed to technology nowadays. It’s so integrated into their lives and they know to reach for technology to solve problems, to have fun, to interact or to make life easier. But the kids I reach out to with Summer Academy are kids with zero technical training. They may have seen or interacted with technology before, but that interaction was only skin deep. They don’t go beyond and learn how it works and how to work with it to get the most out of it. There are so many wonderful and amazing products out there that are being used at only a small percent of their real capacity. I love that kids now want to seamlessly integrate technology into their lives. What I want to see is them being even more curious about technology, using all features, creating unique digitally connected worlds and environments and then sharing that knowledge.


gG: The number of women who pursue college degrees in the computer and information sciences has seen a steady decrease, according to a few reports. Why do you think that is? Lack of awareness? Interest? Availability?

MH: I see women shying away from technology constantly. It almost seems like a confidence issue or a “Superwoman” issue. These young girls hear about the best of the best in technology and the few women who are spotlighted seem like “Superwomen” and I hear a lot of these young girls say “I could never learn that” or “I could never be that smart”. That breaks my heart. Working with technology or in the IT world is merely about being curious – curious about how things work, about how people interact, what people’s needs are, etc. The technology world is where creativity and thinking outside the box thrive, yet it gets a pretty stiff, boring image. Those two issues combined are what I hear the most from young students about why they didn’t consider technology (academically).


gG: What has been your experience with teen girls who were interested in tech?

MH: The teen girls I’ve come across who are interested in technology are a force to be reckoned with. They are smart, clever, creative, fearless and so much more. They are leaders and I think there are so many more of them than we know. We need to create environments and programs that encourage them. I think a lot of young girls are stopped at an early age due to stereotype bias and it’s our job to help them overcome that. These young girls are the future of technology, and since technology shapes our world, they will change the world.


What geekGIRL do you look up to?

There are so many inspirational women in technology. When I was a kid I can most vividly remember Sally Ride, who I was honored to meet a few years ago. But honestly for me, it was my parents. Having both a strong male and female role model for me was important. Having a working mother showed me that women worked, that it was ok and normal even. I never once thought about not working. Thanks to my mom it never once dawned on me as a child that there was anything I couldn’t do. And my dad worked in technology so I had access to it. By him not keeping it from his daughter but introducing me to that world, obviously had a major impact on me. So the two big names that drew me into technology were MOM and DAD.


gG: What new technology has excited you most in recent months?

MH: I’d have to say I’m still on an iPad high. I travel so much for my job so combining pretty much everything I need into once device as small and efficient as the iPad was a life saver for me. I’m still waiting for a few more crucial apps to come out and then I can be pretty much laptop free for most of my time on the road. The team I work with is all virtual so we’ve become experts at connectivity in a virtual world and the iPad was just another great tool to use for seamless productivity and connectivity. Love it!


gG:  Aside from the whole secret spy thing, is “Chuck” a decent representation of life on the Geek Squad?

MH: LOL! Ok, I have to admit I have not watched all three seasons of “Chuck” but I have seen the majority. All the Geek Squad Agents that I have come across, myself included, really enjoy the show. I have to say there are some similarities, and that’s what keeps us laughing. And I don’t know a Geek Squad Agent who wouldn’t love to have “muscle memory”. Regardless of how cool Chuck is, he doesn’t have a Geekmobile. ☺


gG: Fill in the blank: “I knew I was going to be a geek when ______…”

MH: I found and deleted my first autoexec.bat file (because who needs that?)…oops. ☺


gG: One last thing: When you have computer issues, does turning it off and on actually do anything? Or is it similar to shaking a Polaroid picture – doesn’t do a thing but makes you feel like it is?

MH: I love that question…and sadly the answer is: It depends on what the issue really is. Software sometimes has issues and restarting your computer will help resolve that small software issue. But if you have hardware programs, an Operating System issue, or something like a corrupt software installation, sadly no, restarting will not solve those.

Sometimes, though, restarting is good for the user. Occasionally we all need to breathe and reboot. ☺

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Moira Hardek’s 5 things a geekGIRL should never be without:

MH: Wow! Just 5? Seriously? That’s the hardest question ever. Ok, so I’m just going to go with my faves at the moment (in no particular order):

1. iPad
2. iPhone or Smartphone
3. woot.com
4. ruelala.com – never pay full price!
5. TalkingCarl – the app that can keep all the small children I know busy for hours!

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Want to learn more about how Geek Squad Summer Academy got its start? Check out this video and visit the Geek Squad 2010 Summer Academy website for more information. To find the nearest Geek Squad precinct near you, call 1.800.GEEKSQUAD or log on to geeksquad.com.