Janese Swanson facts for kids

Janese Swanson (born 1958) is an American inventor and software developer. She helped create the very first Carmen Sandiego educational games. Janese also started a company called Girl Tech. This company makes cool products that help make technology more interesting for girls.

She has developed many award-winning learning programs, electronic toys, and books. All of these encourage girls to explore technology and invent new things. Some of her toy inventions include the Snoop Stopper Keepsake Box, the Me-Mail Message Center, the Zap N’ Lock Journal, and the Swap-It Locket. She has also written books like Tech Girl's Internet Adventures and Tech Girl's Activity Book.

About Janese Swanson

Janese Swanson grew up in San Diego, California. Her father passed away when she was young, so her mother raised her. She graduated from Orange Glen High School in 1975. While in high school, she worked part-time at Sears. She was the youngest and only female salesperson in the television and sound system department, and she was very good at her job!

She earned her first college degree in 1981 from San Diego State University. After that, she worked as a teacher, a flight attendant, and even a model. She once convinced a computer company to give her laptops. Then, she taught her fellow flight attendants how to use them during their free time.

Janese loved learning and kept studying. She earned several more degrees, including a doctorate in 1997 from the University of San Francisco. Her studies focused on how the design of products affects what boys and girls like to play with.

Working with Games and Toys

In the late 1980s, Janese Swanson started working at Broderbund Software. There, she helped create popular computer games like The Treehouse and The Playroom. She also worked on the Macintosh version of Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?.

Janese was also an inventor for her own daughter. She created a voice recording device because she missed hearing her daughter's voice during the day. She thought, "This would let me talk to her during the day." In 1992, she left Broderbund to work on technology that could change the sound of a voice. She started her own company, Kid One For Fun. This company developed and licensed popular voice-changing toys like Yak Bak and Talkboy F/X+.

Starting Girl Tech

In 1995, Janese decided she wanted to create toys especially for girls. She started her own company, Girl Tech, in San Rafael, California. Her products included the "Friend Frame" (a talking picture frame) and the Snoop Stopper "Keepsafe" Box (a storage box with a remote-controlled lock). Other inventions were the Me-Mail Message Center, the Zap N’ Lock Journal, and the Swap-It Locket. She also made a remote listening device called "Bug 'Em".

Janese found that some toy stores didn't understand her vision. She said, "For two years after I founded the company, toy store buyers would say, 'Can you make it pink?' 'Can't you make it for boys?' And I would say, 'No, this is what girls like to play with.'"

Girl Tech also publishes books about technology for girls. The company works with community groups and created a technology learning program for Girl Scout councils. Later, Janese sold Girl Tech to Radica Games, which is now part of Mattel. She has also licensed her inventions to other big toy companies like Hasbro and Sega.

Current Work

Janese Swanson has also worked as an Education Coordinator at the United States Mint. She was also a founder at The Art Apprentice. Today, she is an art teacher in the Del Mar Union School District. She uses computer technology to help her students create amazing artwork. Her students' work has even won awards! In 2008, they received an "Innovative Video In Education" (iVIE) award. Janese was also the education chair for SIGGRAPH in 2007, which is a big conference about computer graphics.