According to the Black Girls Code website, Kimberly Bryant created the Oakland-based, non-profit Black Girls Code organization 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.?
And she has succeeded.
Since 2011, Bryant has been providing opportunities such as computer coding lessons for young girls from underrepresented communities in the Bay area.
Recently, her work garnered the attention of search giant Google.
Last month, Google gave the organization space valued at $2.8 million at its headquarters in NYC. According to online reports, the partnership will allow the nonprofit to build a permanent teaching space. This is yet another move that Google has made in their recent attempts to build community engagement with the Black community. (Earlier this year, Google partnered with another nonprofit, Black Girls Rock, to create Made with Code, a project that awarded a $10,000 scholarship to a student who exhibited STEM aspirations.)
William Floyd, Google?s head of external affairs, released the following statement on the news. ?We need a tech sector that looks like the society it serves, and groups like Black Girls Code are ensuring that we can cultivate and access talent in communities of color.?
