3. Girls Who Code
Kimberly Bryant is introducing more girls to STEM areas. (Black Girls Code)
Kimberly Bryant didn’t see many people who looked like her when she was in engineering school. Then she couldn’t find the right programs for her young daughter. So she decided to do her part to help other girls and to broaden the pool of African-American women in STEM areas: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. “By launching Black Girls Code,” she says, “I hope to provide young and pre-teen girls of color opportunities to learn in-demand skills in technology and computer programming at a time when they are naturally thinking about what they want to be when they grow up.” Bryant holds workshops, boot camps and hackathons around the country for “Tech Divas” ages 7 to 17. She also added bilingual workshops this year to reach Latinas. In July, the White House honored Bryant as one of a dozen “Champions of Change for Tech Inclusion.” Founded in 2011, Black Girls Code has exposed at least 1,500 girls to STEM areas. Bryant is shooting for a million coders by 2040.
