I love seeing people working towards their future and accomplishing goals; especially when when that person is a woman, AND a woman of color at that. Meet Kimberly Bryant, Founder and Executive Director of Black Girls CODE. Black Girls CODE is a non-profit organization whose mission is to teach girls of color to become digital creators and technology leaders (Facebook). "When I was first introduced to computer programming, as a freshman in Electrical Engineering, Fortran and Pascal were the popular languages for newbies in computing and the Apple Macintosh was the new kid on the block. I remember being excited by the prospects, and looked forward to embarking on a rich and rewarding career after college.But I also recall, as I pursued my studies, feeling culturally isolated: few of my classmates looked like me. While we shared similar aspirations and many good times, there’s much to be said for making any challenging journey with people of the same cultural background.Much has changed since my college days, but there’s still a dearth of African-American women in science, technology, engineering and math professions, an absence that cannot be explained by, say, a lack of interest in these fields. Lack of access and lack of exposure to STEM topics are the likelier culprits."
Black Girls Code is an organization dedicated to introducing girls of color (ages 7-17) to the field of technology and computer programming with a concentration on entrepreneurial concepts.
I find that very inspirational in today's world. These are the times when we all should be trying to better ourselves, and with this organization, it gives young girls of color a way to succeed in this cold world where we are looked down on.
Following in her mother's footstep is Kai Bryant, Kimberly Bryant's daughter and the reason the Black Girls Code was created after watching Kai play video games. Kimberly's interested spiked in the coding (engineering) field. She wanted her daughter Kai to experience what it would be like to actually create a video game, an experience I'm sure she would enjoy more. Their organization is giving way for a new breed of coders, and a chance for women of color to lead in male dominated careers.
So on a hunch, Kimberly Byrant quit her job and founded "Black Girls Code".
["I was trying to find ways to nurture that talent in her [Kai]. I was looking for opportunities outside of school. What I saw mirrored what I saw in the industry: Lots of boys, very few girls and not very many people of color at all," Bryant says.
So she created a camp of her own. In 2011, Bryant launched Black Girls Code, which introduces girls of color to computer science with the goal of building a new generation of coders. It has introduced more than 4,000 girls in nine cities to computer science. By 2040, Bryant wants to reach 1 million girls whom she calls "tech divas."
Young women in the program "find their voice," she says. "We are creating a powerful community of women skilled and confident about what they can create in the workplace."
Her students heading to Dartmouth , Princeton and Spelman to study computer science "will change the face of technology," she says. (USA Today)]
To learn more on the Black Girls Code visit their website at BlackGirlsCode.Com
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