Speaker Spotlight: Kimberly Bryant, founder of Black Girls Code

As Kimberly Bryant was seeking an education in technology, she made the quick realization that her background was not shared by her classmates. As an African-American women studying this field, she remembers feeling “culturally isolated.” Now 47, Bryant believes little has changed in the makeup of the tech industry. And it appears she’s right. Google…

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As Kimberly Bryant was seeking an education in technology, she made the quick realization that her background was not shared by her classmates. As an African-American women studying this field, she remembers feeling “culturally isolated.”

Now 47, Bryant believes little has changed in the makeup of the tech industry. And it appears she’s right. Google recently released its employee data, quoting less than 1 percent of technical employees are black women.

Enter Black Girls Code.

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Founded by Bryant in 2011, the organization is on a mission to train the next generation of tech innovators. Furthermore, Black Girls Code wishes to help create and develop self confidence in young girls of color.

Bryant has a teenage daughter who finds a special interest in computer science. It was the similarity between her daughter’s experience and her own that provided much of the inspiration to start Black Girls Code.

In the past three years, the organization has seen explosive growth across the country and even overseas. More than 3,000 young girls have been impacted so far, participating in education that covers coding fundamentals. Much of the nonprofit’s work takes the form of workshops where girls are given the opportunity to build a game, webpage or mobile app in a day. Black Girls Code relies upon partner organizations and universities to host these events.

For her work, Bryant has received praise from numerous publications, including Fast Company, Forbes and TechCrunch. Furthermore, she has been seen as an inspiration to entrepreneurs of all ages, proving that those in the tech industry can continue to thrive as they age.

Join us at Big Kansas City in October to hear more from Kimberly Bryant, along with our amazing other speakers. Help us welcome her on Twitter at @6gems.

Credits: Photo by Kimberly Bryant.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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