What drives Kim?
After studying electrical engineering in college, Kimberly Bryant graduated into a tech world which was almost exclusively male and white. Decades later, she was disturbed to discover that her daughter’s computer science classrooms looked just the same. Bryant decided to change that. In 2011, she created Black Girls Code, a nonprofit organization that introduces girls from underrepresented communities to basic skills in computer programming, robotics, app development, and more. “I get a lot of joy from just encouraging girls to say I'm good at something especially if it's something we are not usually supposed to be good at,” she says.
Through volunteer-run workshops in cities across the U.S., the organization has an ambitious vision to introduce 1 million girls to computer science by 2040. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that Black Girls Code will teach a million girls,” Bryant explains. “But if we teach 100,000 or 200,000, those girls will become exponential leaders in their own right.”
Here Bryant reflects on the challenges she has faced in her own career and how she gained the confidence to lead in a male-dominated workforce. “I was just determined to make it through. I had to figure out how to lead and show I was knowledgeable and capable.” Ultimately, she hopes that Black Girls Code will not only equip girls with hands-on experience, but also create a community that will empower the girls to carve out their own spaces in the tech industry. “One of the things that helped me was finding my community. Others that could share a bit of their experience, that could give me advice. I want girls to understand,” Bryant says, “that they have the right, the power to create the life they want for themselves.”
