Speaker 1: All of us have a role to play because we
Speaker 1: can also push back when we hear stereotypes about who
Speaker 1: belongs in the sector, and we can keep pushing a
Speaker 1: conversation that says that more folks should have a seat
Speaker 1: at the table. There are No Girls on the Internet.
Speaker 1: As a production of I Heart Radio and Unboss Creative,
Speaker 1: I'm Bridget Todd and this is There Are No Girls
Speaker 1: on the Internet. Banning books is nothing new in the
Speaker 1: United States, but since we've seen the number of books
Speaker 1: banned in schools and libraries skyrocket as extremists parents groups
Speaker 1: consolidate power in local school districts, and according to the
Speaker 1: American Library Association, most of the books being challenged are
Speaker 1: about black or lgbt Q characters or deal with issues
Speaker 1: of race and inclusion. Earlier this year, four children's books
Speaker 1: from Girls Who Code, an organization that exists to close
Speaker 1: the gender gap in technology and change the image of
Speaker 1: what a programmer looks like and does. We're pulled from
Speaker 1: Pennsylvania's Central York District. Girls who Code CEO Dr Rica
Speaker 1: Barrett says that at a time when girls are on bionary,
Speaker 1: young people should be being encouraged to get more involved
Speaker 1: in technology, making it harder to access girls who code
Speaker 1: books is especially troubling. Now, don't get it twisted. Dr
Speaker 1: Barrett is a doctor, but you can call me Arrica.
Speaker 1: Especially with women who have PhD s. I don't out
Speaker 1: of my way to really hit that doctor because I
Speaker 1: feel like it's so easy to be like, oh, just
Speaker 1: first name and I don't know. I I appreciate you
Speaker 1: letting me call you Treka, but I am a stickler
Speaker 1: for the doctor. When it's a woman. I am with you,
Speaker 1: and you immediately re engendered rapport right away. So I
Speaker 1: was like, call me to Rica. But don't get it twisted.
Speaker 1: If anyone does not refer to be as Dr Barrett,
Speaker 1: especially if they're referring to other folks by that um
Speaker 1: sort of you know title, I get upset immediately because
Speaker 1: it has happened to me where I've been in conversations
Speaker 1: where there is a phone call or a meeting and
Speaker 1: a gentleman is being referred to as Dr so and so,
Speaker 1: and then I'm getting the tarika, and I've actually paused
Speaker 1: and said to people, know it's Dr Barrett, which sometimes
Speaker 1: you know, engenders some awkward silence. But to be honest,
Speaker 1: that honorific is nothing to play with, you know. I
Speaker 1: it took me four and a half years and two children,
Speaker 1: birthing two children to get it. So I really appreciate
Speaker 1: that you you kind of noted that too, Yeah, of course,
Speaker 1: of course, Well that's a great place to start. How
Speaker 1: did you wind up at Girls who Code? Oh my gosh, Bridget,
Speaker 1: that's such a great question. And I never thought that
Speaker 1: I would be sitting here CEO of Girls who Code,
Speaker 1: one of the largest girls organizations on the planet. And
Speaker 1: you know, I am just overcome with pride because again
Speaker 1: I just could not have imagine that I would be
Speaker 1: doing what I'm doing today, leading this movement to inspire
Speaker 1: and educate and equipped students you know, who identify as
Speaker 1: girls or non binary with all these computing skills that
Speaker 1: they need to really take advantage of twenty one century opportunity.
Speaker 1: And as I reflect on how I got here, you know,
Speaker 1: I come to this space first and foremost as an
Speaker 1: educator and activists, and I've been working on issues of
Speaker 1: education reform for basically my entire career. And you know,
Speaker 1: it goes back further. I had this incredible mom. You know,
Speaker 1: I grew up partly in Kingston, Jamaica and Brooklyn, New York,
Speaker 1: who taught me not just the power of education, but
Speaker 1: always to go into spaces see the type of work
Speaker 1: that needed to happen, that needs to get done but
Speaker 1: wasn't happening, and to have the agency that I could
Speaker 1: actually myself be the change that I wanted to see.
Speaker 1: And you know, I've had these incredible opportunities, milestones along
Speaker 1: the way that I just feel blessed to have had.
Speaker 1: I at one point was working in the New York
Speaker 1: City Department of Education, where I had a chance to
Speaker 1: really take what was instilled in me, you know, when
Speaker 1: I was younger, and put it into practice. Um. I've
Speaker 1: always been drawn to supporting the kids who have been
Speaker 1: the most marginalized. And I worked within this office in
Speaker 1: the d OE that really focused on kids who were
Speaker 1: significantly off track academically. So we're talking about kids who
Speaker 1: were not going to graduate on time, and you know,
Speaker 1: many people have frankly written off and most of them
Speaker 1: were poor black and brown kids who looked, you know,
Speaker 1: just like me when I was their age. And you know,
Speaker 1: I had this once in a lifetime opportunity to leave
Speaker 1: the team that was going to build a first of
Speaker 1: its kind high school focused on software engineering. Um. But
Speaker 1: it was also this incredible moment because this school, as intended,
Speaker 1: as folks came together and believed should be built, was
Speaker 1: going to be what we call a quote unquote read school,
Speaker 1: and they very much wanted to be the school where
Speaker 1: you would test in. And you know, as an educator,
Speaker 1: I knew what this was going to look like. Relying
Speaker 1: on test courts would mean that for our most marginalized students,
Speaker 1: for our kids of color, black and brown kids, they
Speaker 1: were not going to have the advantage here. And we
Speaker 1: know the reasons for that poverty, disinvestment in low income neighborhoods,
Speaker 1: and certainly racial bias and testing. And you know, as
Speaker 1: I was a senior leader at the time, but relatively
Speaker 1: knew in my journey, I knew that this was going
Speaker 1: to be risky for me. But I somehow knew in
Speaker 1: my spirit that I would have to fight against screening
Speaker 1: and rally support for opening this school to any kid.
Speaker 1: And it didn't matter if this was going to disrupt
Speaker 1: the notions that are key stakeholders held right venture capitalists
Speaker 1: and tech entrepreneurs who were keen on having this school
Speaker 1: look a certain way, and today I'm just so proud
Speaker 1: that any young person in New York City interest in
Speaker 1: computer science has a chance to attend the Academy for
Speaker 1: Software Engineering and for the kids who are there them
Speaker 1: are graduating on time and bridget you know, getting that
Speaker 1: school off the ground was absolutely one of my proudest
Speaker 1: accomplishments as an educator, even to this day, leading Girls
Speaker 1: Who Code, But it, you know, was also a powerful
Speaker 1: lesson that you always have to exist somehow at the
Speaker 1: intersection of opportunity and bravery, and if you get a
Speaker 1: shot to disrupt the status quo, you have to take it.
Speaker 1: And you know, I could have answered this question really
Speaker 1: six simply and just said it was during the pandemic.
Speaker 1: Took this job when our founder rush Mustajohn came to
Speaker 1: me and said it's time, Um, But I wanted to
Speaker 1: give you some of the color that shaped why I
Speaker 1: said yes during a pandemic to becoming CEO of Girls
Speaker 1: Who Code. You know, my grandmother had a sixth grade education.
Speaker 1: She worked on our family's farm, you know, after her
Speaker 1: mother died, helping to raise her seven younger siblings. I
Speaker 1: she could never, in her wildest dreams have imagined that
Speaker 1: I would be doing what I'm doing now, working toward
Speaker 1: lifting up all these young people and giving them opportunity.
Speaker 1: All of those experiences I just told you be at
Speaker 1: the New York City Department of Education or other things
Speaker 1: when I was a teacher, All these milestones led me
Speaker 1: to this moment, you know, saying yes to being CEO.
Speaker 1: And since we launch this organization in we've reached five
Speaker 1: hundred thousand students with our programming, a hundred and fifteen
Speaker 1: thousand of whom are college and workforce age, you know,
Speaker 1: young women and non binary students. And you know what
Speaker 1: fuels me to do this work every day is that
Speaker 1: I know that when we address this growing gender gap
Speaker 1: in tech, which is very much our mission, we're empowering
Speaker 1: young people, this next generation, especially those who have been overlooked,
Speaker 1: to seek out that driving and exciting careers of the future,
Speaker 1: because we know that it's going to afford them this
Speaker 1: improved quality of life and upward mobility that has been
Speaker 1: elusive too far too many. We are so fond of
Speaker 1: that saying I'm sure you've heard it. If you if
Speaker 1: you can see it, you can be it. But if
Speaker 1: you can't see it, you can't be it. And I
Speaker 1: know that Girls Whose Girls who Code is doing so
Speaker 1: much of the work of helping young women and non
Speaker 1: binary folks see themselves in positions and rooms and spaces
Speaker 1: that maybe they haven't really been shown before. And so
Speaker 1: when when Girls who Code books and programming are then
Speaker 1: not included in school curriculums or outright band like we
Speaker 1: know happened in some school districts, it's a problem, not
Speaker 1: just because you know you're you're banning this content which
Speaker 1: you find, like quote controversial, but also because it creates
Speaker 1: a situation where I think it sends a message that
Speaker 1: there's something wrong with disrupting that status quo about what
Speaker 1: rooms women and non buying it and people can find
Speaker 1: themselves in. Yeah, Bridget, you've said that so well, it's
Speaker 1: frightening right like as you say it. Even though we've
Speaker 1: been going through this since we learned of the book band,
Speaker 1: I still feel like such, you know, chills and a
Speaker 1: sense of disbelief when you break it down that way.
Speaker 1: To say that I was unsettled by the news would
Speaker 1: be an understatement. And you know you talked about what
Speaker 1: it meant to not be represented. I might be the
Speaker 1: CEO of Girls with Code, this incredible nonprofit. But you know,
Speaker 1: I'm also an educator and a mother, and we know
Speaker 1: how transformative books can be for young people. I remember
Speaker 1: when my daughter, she was much younger than she's actually
Speaker 1: applying for high school now, when our fiction series came
Speaker 1: out and she looked at one of the covers and
Speaker 1: she said, Mom, there's a brown girl on the cover.
Speaker 1: Now did I don't remember exactly what year that was,
Speaker 1: but to think that my daughter, in this modern era
Speaker 1: would be excited about that representation is an indication of
Speaker 1: how scarce it is for a brown girl, a black girl,
Speaker 1: you know, a girl wearing a h job, you know,
Speaker 1: a student who's non binary, a student who's differently able
Speaker 1: to see themselves represented in books, in media. And you know,
Speaker 1: books can open up so many doors. Right, We're talking
Speaker 1: about essential life skills, learning about yourself, the world around you,
Speaker 1: your possibilities, what you can be. And so when this
Speaker 1: banning of our books happened, you know, it was a setback.
Speaker 1: For all the reasons that you just said, Bridget We're
Speaker 1: talking about a setback in terms of our fight for
Speaker 1: an equitable, safe and diverse world. Um, you know we
Speaker 1: always say at girls to code. As you said, you
Speaker 1: can't be what you can't see, we say all the
Speaker 1: time because when it comes to tech in particular, our girls,
Speaker 1: are young women, are non binary students do not see
Speaker 1: themselves represented in the ways that they should. And when
Speaker 1: we silence or ignore marginalized groups, we outwardly tell them
Speaker 1: that they don't matter, that their stories don't matter. And
Speaker 1: you know, we know this to be true. But if
Speaker 1: you ask a girl, or if we think about how
Speaker 1: we came up in school, we learned, you know, in
Speaker 1: school and through culture about the Bill Gates of the world,
Speaker 1: Mark Zuckerberg, Albert Einstein, Neil Armstrong, if we go back,
Speaker 1: but when if you ask your girls, how many of
Speaker 1: them have heard of Katherine Johnson or Mary Jackson, or
Speaker 1: Grace Hopper or Jeane Bartek or a Lovelace. They're looking
Speaker 1: at you like what, Like, what are you talking about?
Speaker 1: These incredible pioneers who made enormous contributions to the field.
Speaker 1: But yet the cultural representations that have defined text since
Speaker 1: the nine eighties, you know, completely diminish and ignore those
Speaker 1: incredible contributions. And it was there was a certain amount
Speaker 1: of intentionality there, and so we're counteracting these powerful cultural
Speaker 1: stereotypes and images that tell our girls and young women
Speaker 1: that a programmer looks like a boy in a hoodie
Speaker 1: right along in a basement, or some maniac running a
Speaker 1: company in Silicon Valley. It's important for little girls to
Speaker 1: see themselves reflected in the maths, sciences, and technologies. According
Speaker 1: to research from the Gina Davis Institute on Gender and Media,
Speaker 1: kids implicitly start thinking of technology as a male pursuit
Speaker 1: as early as age seven, a bias that continues well
Speaker 1: into adulthood. This is exactly the kind of bias that
Speaker 1: Girls who Code is combating. They're helping a new generation
Speaker 1: of little ones get excited about technology and see themselves
Speaker 1: reflected in it through initiatives like Doja Code, a new
Speaker 1: partnership with Dojakat that let's listeners engage with her music
Speaker 1: videos entirely through code. Before girls are even double digits,
Speaker 1: before they're even ten, they've internalized these cultural touchstones, and
Speaker 1: these are beliefs that end up resonating with them throughout
Speaker 1: their entire lives elementary school, middle school, high school, college,
Speaker 1: and even into the workforce. And so that's why, in
Speaker 1: terms of what we do at girls to code. We
Speaker 1: make sure that we're putting forward women in tech spotlights.
Speaker 1: We make sure that we're doing things like what you've
Speaker 1: seen launching the world's first quotable music video with do Jaquet,
Speaker 1: helping girls to understand that it's not some crazy binary
Speaker 1: where you either want to make money or you want
Speaker 1: to lift up your community, that there's a path for
Speaker 1: you to bring your passion and creativity and the change
Speaker 1: you want to see in your community in the world
Speaker 1: by embracing tech. Because we know that these powerful binaries
Speaker 1: are still at play. That you can either you know,
Speaker 1: be some guy going in space and a rocket ship
Speaker 1: or using your money to do what you want to do,
Speaker 1: or you know, as opposed to changing the world. And
Speaker 1: we're making sure that our community understands that they can
Speaker 1: have the impact that they want to have, that they
Speaker 1: belong within tech, and that they can you know, see
Speaker 1: those representations and frankly, because we need for them to
Speaker 1: do that, they're going to be the ones who actually
Speaker 1: bring us the tech that's representative of our communities in
Speaker 1: the world, and so it's critical that we change what's
Speaker 1: happening absolutely. You know, when I first started this podcast,
Speaker 1: I I kind of went into it with a similar
Speaker 1: kind of misconception that you've just described. I'm sad to
Speaker 1: say where I had sort of internalized this story that
Speaker 1: you know, technology was a boys club and that women
Speaker 1: and people of color have been trying to break into
Speaker 1: this boys club, and that that's kind of where we were.
Speaker 1: But in doing a little bit of research, I was like, oh, wait,
Speaker 1: actually we were there all along, and exactly just because
Speaker 1: just because our stories weren't always told and we didn't
Speaker 1: always get the shine or whatever, doesn't mean we weren't there.
Speaker 1: And so it took this kind of re calibrating internally
Speaker 1: and be like, no, this is our rightful domain. We
Speaker 1: have a right state of space and show up here absolutely.
Speaker 1: And you know, when you think about it, tech intersects
Speaker 1: every facet of our lives, right you have, be it
Speaker 1: voting rights, healthcare, safety, and security, and there's no opting
Speaker 1: out of tech. I think what you said is so
Speaker 1: profound because we have been not only consumers and users,
Speaker 1: but certainly the creativity, all the different things. It's just
Speaker 1: that these things, these accomplishments, aren't to amplify, you know,
Speaker 1: and often it's the same folks who are getting be
Speaker 1: it funding for the next big idea or recognition around
Speaker 1: a given gadget or its influence. And part of what
Speaker 1: we do is that we maintain steady drumbeat making sure
Speaker 1: that we actually lift up the stories. Because when I
Speaker 1: think about even if you want to say about our students,
Speaker 1: who you know, our new technology in some cases are
Speaker 1: just starting out, I am blown away by their projects
Speaker 1: and the way they think about things. And to say
Speaker 1: nothing of our alums that include students who have you know,
Speaker 1: created all kinds of things like you know, um an
Speaker 1: app to stop cyber bullying, or we have another alum
Speaker 1: who you know, galvanized a whole group of folks to
Speaker 1: make um ppe through three D printing. And these are
Speaker 1: young people, and so I'm just so grateful that your
Speaker 1: show is another opportunity to kind of lift up these voices.
Speaker 1: Let's take a quick break at our back as bleak
Speaker 1: as we all know, things can sometimes feel, the kids
Speaker 1: are actually all right. With encouragement from girls who code,
Speaker 1: young people are tackling some of the most pressing challenges
Speaker 1: of our time using technology. Some of the stories that
Speaker 1: are coming out of girls who code, the things that
Speaker 1: they make are incredible, and things so whenever I'm asked,
Speaker 1: you know, on this show, we have to talk about
Speaker 1: so many things that are dark or depressing or sad
Speaker 1: when it comes to technology. But the thing that gives
Speaker 1: me hope time and time again is young people like
Speaker 1: those And if you give that same girl a computer
Speaker 1: and some knowhow and some confidence, the things that you
Speaker 1: can accomplish our limitless, limitless, absolutely limitless. And it's also
Speaker 1: the things that are sitting in front of us that
Speaker 1: we sit down as grown folks and feel paralyzed and
Speaker 1: think are intractable issues. You know, we had one student
Speaker 1: who came up with a gun safety pattern where okay,
Speaker 1: you bring this weapon within X distance of a school
Speaker 1: or community that's been deemed where that's not allowed. It
Speaker 1: doesn't work. These are you know, ideas that should shape
Speaker 1: policy and the way that we think about things. We
Speaker 1: have like twelve year olds working on the lead water crisis,
Speaker 1: you know, and it ranges right like the among my favorites,
Speaker 1: would these students who are like, wait a second, why
Speaker 1: aren't there any black hair care products? They're actually accessible
Speaker 1: you know in this way. Um or climate change or
Speaker 1: negative you know, anti immigration policies and all kinds of things.
Speaker 1: I'm with you. It's when you feel downtrodden that you
Speaker 1: recognize that our young people are not. And that's why
Speaker 1: you have to continue to have programming like we offer
Speaker 1: at Girls Who Code that allows young people to have
Speaker 1: these on ramps to be able to gain this exposure
Speaker 1: because they're deeply excited. They're almost inherently entrepreneurial in the
Speaker 1: way that they think. They don't even necessarily think about
Speaker 1: it as like, well, I don't need to join X company.
Speaker 1: They're all about the next thing that's going to make
Speaker 1: things better for everyone, and that's just sort of how
Speaker 1: they approach these challenges and it's so inspiring. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: have to say I see a little bit of that
Speaker 1: same inspiration in the way that you and the entire
Speaker 1: Girls who Code community responded to the news of Girls
Speaker 1: who Code books being being banned. There is a line
Speaker 1: in your LinkedIn post that I really, I really liked
Speaker 1: where you quoted the co founder of Reshma, this is
Speaker 1: an opportunity to start more clubs, get more girls to code,
Speaker 1: and to get more girls to become economically free. And so,
Speaker 1: you know, using what I think was like a pretty galvanizing,
Speaker 1: horrible moment, these books being banned to say well, no,
Speaker 1: we're not going to retreat. We're going to use this
Speaker 1: as an opportunity to continue building the changes that we
Speaker 1: want to see. As inspiring as Girls Who Code is not,
Speaker 1: everybody feels that way. Across the country, extremist groups are
Speaker 1: banning books from libraries and classrooms that highlight inclusion, and
Speaker 1: in September four, books from Girls Who Code were amongst
Speaker 1: the books that have been restricted or diminished for either
Speaker 1: limited or indefinite periods of time in Pennsylvania's Central York District.
Speaker 1: The books called The Friendship of Code, Team BFF, Race
Speaker 1: to the Finish, Lights Music Code, and Spotlight on Coding
Speaker 1: Club all follow the adventures of a group of young
Speaker 1: girls in a coding club at their school, kind of
Speaker 1: like the Babysitters Club series, only for coding. To be clear,
Speaker 1: these bands are not prompted by a collection of just
Speaker 1: one off parent complaints. According to Pan America, the large
Speaker 1: majority of book bands underway today are not spontaneous, organic
Speaker 1: expressions of citizen concern. Rather, they reflect the work of
Speaker 1: a growing number of advocacy organizations that have made demanding
Speaker 1: censorship of books and ideas in schools part of their mission.
Speaker 1: Girls Who Code founder Rush Misogyny didn't take all of
Speaker 1: this sitting down. This is an opportunity to start more clubs,
Speaker 1: get more girls to code, and get more girls to
Speaker 1: be come economically free. She just bonded to the news
Speaker 1: of the bands in a LinkedIn post, and thanks to
Speaker 1: the vocal support of students, teachers, and parents in the
Speaker 1: community who organized and thought back, the band was defeated
Speaker 1: for now at least. I appreciate so much that you
Speaker 1: named that. We approached it and really turned this horrible
Speaker 1: moment on its head and saw it as a way
Speaker 1: to bring together our community and frankly, to raise awareness
Speaker 1: among other folks who may not understand what a big
Speaker 1: deal banning a book frankly as benign as this one,
Speaker 1: you know what that meant um and banning books and
Speaker 1: other it's not just our book, right, other diverse educational
Speaker 1: material is intended to keep children and specifically our girls
Speaker 1: from accessing opportunity, and that is frightening. And this book
Speaker 1: band that we're talking about was part of a larger
Speaker 1: nationwide movement over six titles that were removed from shelves
Speaker 1: this past year alone, And when you look at the
Speaker 1: breakdown of what that meant. Nearly the books discussed racism
Speaker 1: in America. Of them featured characters of color and an
Speaker 1: additional address lgbt Q, you know, plus themes and what
Speaker 1: does it mean? You know when like, if we're keeping
Speaker 1: children from learning about their history, seeing themselves, or hearing
Speaker 1: stories about people who look like them, we're in trouble,
Speaker 1: right because then nothing is off limits. And you know,
Speaker 1: that kind of exposure could severely hamper a young person's
Speaker 1: ability two just gain the knowledge that could be transformative
Speaker 1: for them. And you know, when you ask me what
Speaker 1: does this work? Like, how does it continue? It made
Speaker 1: us It just kind of I think, I don't know,
Speaker 1: heighten the fire in the belly, if you will, bridget
Speaker 1: in terms of just saying, oh, hell no, we're not
Speaker 1: doing this us. We are going to double down. We
Speaker 1: were already deeply committed. We've already named this our tenure anniversary.
Speaker 1: We intend to teach a million girls. We are not
Speaker 1: scared because we know that they're the ones who are
Speaker 1: going to change this world. And every program that we
Speaker 1: have focuses on sisterhood and you know, values, the skills
Speaker 1: and relationships that our students are building that carry them
Speaker 1: through our program and long after the programmatic work with
Speaker 1: US ends, and so for us, it was all about
Speaker 1: sort of reinforcing. We were able to double down on
Speaker 1: our commitment to prepare young people for the jobs of
Speaker 1: the future, and especially young women of color, because they're
Speaker 1: the ones who are going to shape industry right. They
Speaker 1: are the ones who are going to really disrupt the
Speaker 1: status quo. And for folks who don't know about girls
Speaker 1: who code, you know, we are all about closing the
Speaker 1: gender gap in new entry level tech jobs. By and
Speaker 1: for us, we start as early as third grade and
Speaker 1: go all the way through college and even workforce programming. UM.
Speaker 1: And you know, there's so much that I can talk
Speaker 1: to you about being our you know, summer immersion program,
Speaker 1: we even have self paced programming during the summer or
Speaker 1: free after school clubs. We are getting you know, we're
Speaker 1: reaching girls at every stage of the pipeline, driving their interest,
Speaker 1: keeping them excited, and ensuring that they persist. And I'll
Speaker 1: point to a couple of things that we've done, you
Speaker 1: know that just bring me so much hope and excitement.
Speaker 1: So during the pandemic, we had to pivot so much
Speaker 1: of our programming and I can you know, spend forever
Speaker 1: bridget telling you about this. But one of the things
Speaker 1: that was really striking for me, especially as CEO, is
Speaker 1: that when we survey our alumni community, we learned that
Speaker 1: thirty of them had had a job offer or internship rescinded,
Speaker 1: and that our seniors were still looking for work. And
Speaker 1: while we were not experts in workforce development, we had
Speaker 1: just started to see our cohorse move into that older
Speaker 1: domain of going into the workforce. We knew we couldn't
Speaker 1: sit by on the sidelines and watch all this progress
Speaker 1: that these young women and non binary students had made
Speaker 1: fall to the wayside, and so we launched programming that
Speaker 1: just met these needs. We had hiring summits where we
Speaker 1: had more than a thousand students participate in each one,
Speaker 1: with really strong numbers of students being hired from those experiences.
Speaker 1: We launched Girls to Code Work Prep, you know, which
Speaker 1: is like an internship program giving young women exposure to
Speaker 1: you know, corporate partners and careers and women in tech.
Speaker 1: But two programs that I really want to double click
Speaker 1: on our our Leadership Academy. We just launched this. It's
Speaker 1: a four month pilot program with a hundred students from
Speaker 1: eight universities who are majoring in everything from computer science
Speaker 1: to apply mathematics. Of the Leadership Academy. Students come from
Speaker 1: historically underrepresented groups, and we are giving these students a
Speaker 1: chance to experience these dynamics sessions and events and projects.
Speaker 1: They work in small groups. They're going to be meeting
Speaker 1: with career advisors who are going to help them explore
Speaker 1: and prepare for their path forward. We have you know,
Speaker 1: hiring fares that they're going to participate in speed networking
Speaker 1: events with you know, technologists. They're even going to be
Speaker 1: a part of a Technical interview UM Prep boot camp.
Speaker 1: But the thing that really, you know, the icing on
Speaker 1: the cake for me, is that these students are also
Speaker 1: going to work with an advisor to design and propose
Speaker 1: and execute a give back project that's going to strengthen
Speaker 1: their skills, boost their resume, you know, elevate education career
Speaker 1: opportunities for their community as well, which I think is
Speaker 1: just so powerful. And then another program that I'll briefly
Speaker 1: mention is that we just launched our Technical Interview Prep
Speaker 1: last month, and in this particular program, we're working with
Speaker 1: thousands of students who are interested in breaking into the
Speaker 1: tech for workforce every day, and we know that for
Speaker 1: a lot of young people, especially on people of color,
Speaker 1: the technical interview is the most challenging and daunting part
Speaker 1: of the hiring process. And we've also known that the
Speaker 1: folks who succeed at the technical interview always have some
Speaker 1: quote insider access to give them a leg up. And
Speaker 1: we know that there aren't very often affordable and accessible
Speaker 1: resources to help students prepare. And you know, our students
Speaker 1: don't have thousands of dollars to spend on, you know,
Speaker 1: this one step in the job seeking process to get
Speaker 1: and they also don't always have the social capital right
Speaker 1: in terms of who they can turn to to find
Speaker 1: out more about what these technical interviews entail. And so
Speaker 1: we just felt it was way past time to level
Speaker 1: the playing field, you know, for everyone, regardless of background.
Speaker 1: And so I'm so excited that these programs are just
Speaker 1: a couple of the many ways in which we are
Speaker 1: determined to reach our students are most marginalized students at
Speaker 1: every point in the pipeline, you know, starting as early
Speaker 1: as elementary school and all ways all the way through
Speaker 1: college and beyond. More. After a quick break, let's get
Speaker 1: right back into it. Something that you said earlier. There
Speaker 1: is no opting out of tech making sure that particularly
Speaker 1: students and young people who are the most marginalized have
Speaker 1: access to you know, the technical preps. God, I've I've
Speaker 1: been in some tech interviews and I know what you mean,
Speaker 1: Like that technical skills assessment is like I'll just say
Speaker 1: I agree and I know what you mean. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think just for the kind of world that we're
Speaker 1: living in, technology from its it impacts everything from how
Speaker 1: our candidates are elected, how folks run for office, how
Speaker 1: people vote, how you get your groceries, whether or not
Speaker 1: you wind up being criminalized by the state or over surveilled.
Speaker 1: Like there is no way to opt out of this.
Speaker 1: And yet if if people who are marginalized, I feel
Speaker 1: like that they are like shut out of those conversations.
Speaker 1: They don't have a uh you know, I don't feel
Speaker 1: like they should be able to take up space there.
Speaker 1: We are just saying like, okay, well this is going
Speaker 1: to be happening to you. You will not have the
Speaker 1: tools and know how the that that you know the
Speaker 1: skills to even participate in this thing that we know
Speaker 1: is going to be such a big part of all
Speaker 1: of our lives exactly. And you know, Bridget, I don't
Speaker 1: know how I can possibly add more that what you
Speaker 1: just said was so astute. We refuse to accept that notion, right,
Speaker 1: that our young people are going to be, you know,
Speaker 1: on the sidelines, that they're only going to be users
Speaker 1: or consumers, and that they're going to watch this tech
Speaker 1: you know, world unfold around them. That's just not what
Speaker 1: we believe in. And everything we've done has positioned them
Speaker 1: front and center and demanded, frankly, that the tech industry
Speaker 1: give them a seat at the table we are in.
Speaker 1: And we are still talking about women holding roughly somewhere
Speaker 1: around of all computer science jots, right, and when you
Speaker 1: look at black and Latin X women, we're talking about
Speaker 1: that roughly being about five for those groups. You know,
Speaker 1: more than half of the students in our Girls who
Speaker 1: Code community come from historically underrepresented groups. These are young
Speaker 1: women who are motivated, right, They're ready to learn, but
Speaker 1: don't often have the same resources or opportunities as their peers.
Speaker 1: And everyone needs to acknowledge that circumstances are different. Their
Speaker 1: circumstances might calls them to work multiple jobs while carrying
Speaker 1: a full college course load, balancing homework and caregiving responsibilities.
Speaker 1: They don't always have access to the resources they need
Speaker 1: to succeed. And the thing that I have to underscore
Speaker 1: is that these young women often embody bravery and resilience,
Speaker 1: the very equalities that companies are falling over themselves to
Speaker 1: identify in their workforce, but at the same time are
Speaker 1: not at all reflected in conventional academic credentials that these
Speaker 1: tech firms overwhelmingly rely on. And this can be so
Speaker 1: discouraging for our students. You know, computer science, as you said,
Speaker 1: it touches our lives at every intersection. You know, we're
Speaker 1: talking about the fastest growing, highest paying sector in our economy.
Speaker 1: Employment is expected to grow by eleven between and that's
Speaker 1: going to translate into a half a million new jobs.
Speaker 1: And you know, there's no world where we can just
Speaker 1: sit here and tell our girls are young people, are
Speaker 1: black and brown people, that the best jobs out there,
Speaker 1: the highest pain, the fastest growing, the ones that are
Speaker 1: actually going to shape the future of our world, aren't
Speaker 1: for them. And so, you know, part of what I
Speaker 1: try to do a Sea of Girls Who Code is
Speaker 1: constantly remind any of the tech companies with whom I
Speaker 1: come in contact, that they need to shift their mindset
Speaker 1: around talent, around academic credentialing, around how they think about
Speaker 1: you know, the young people that are sitting in front
Speaker 1: of them, you know, knocking at that door, and that
Speaker 1: they can't afford to leave a single ounce of tech
Speaker 1: talent on the table. And so you know, everything we
Speaker 1: design at girls who code contemplates this and sure that they,
Speaker 1: you know, are young people are equipped with the tools
Speaker 1: they need to be able to succeed um And of
Speaker 1: course I talk about, you know, the really punishing work
Speaker 1: cultures and you know, difficult environments that also cause you know,
Speaker 1: of women to leave the tech field by the age
Speaker 1: of thirty five and bridget They're just so much complexity there.
Speaker 1: But for me, you know, my work is twofold. It's
Speaker 1: teaching girls computer science, but also holding industry to account
Speaker 1: and making sure that we are constantly pushing this culture
Speaker 1: that tells our most marginalized young people that they don't
Speaker 1: belong in tech. I am so grateful that you're doing
Speaker 1: the work of pushing back against that culture and really
Speaker 1: shaking up the status quo. And honestly, part of me
Speaker 1: feels like if someone is trying to ban your books
Speaker 1: because you're you're taking that table kind of doing something right.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Bridget. I appreciate that. So let's say that
Speaker 1: someone listening they have a young person in their life,
Speaker 1: a young woman or a young non binary person, and
Speaker 1: they want to get involved with Girls who Code. How
Speaker 1: can folks listening get get involved? Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for that question, anyone who's listening. You know, I always say,
Speaker 1: first and foremost, go to Girls who Code dot com.
Speaker 1: Check out our website because we do list all of
Speaker 1: our programs. There are so many entry points, Bridget, and
Speaker 1: that's something I'm deeply proud of. You know, we started
Speaker 1: with that flagship, you know, seven weeks summer immersion program
Speaker 1: with twenty girls in a borrowed conference room in New
Speaker 1: York City learning how to code from nine in the
Speaker 1: morning until four in the afternoon, and we've expanded so
Speaker 1: much since then. This past summer, I think we taught
Speaker 1: over six thousand girls computer science during our summer programming alone.
Speaker 1: So if there are girls or non binary students, female
Speaker 1: identifying folks who want to be a part of that
Speaker 1: kind of experience, that is fantastic. In certain that will
Speaker 1: come around, come summer, but are free after school clubs
Speaker 1: from grades three through twelve. Those are absolutely available in
Speaker 1: your community. And if your parents thinking, or a librarian
Speaker 1: or community leader or someone else thinking I don't have
Speaker 1: this at my school or I don't have this, you
Speaker 1: can actually start one. And we always encourage folks to
Speaker 1: do that, and you can look for that information on
Speaker 1: our website. And then beyond that, I mentioned our technical
Speaker 1: interview preps. So if you're a young person thinking about
Speaker 1: entering the sector and wanting to sharpen your skills for that,
Speaker 1: you know, Dreadedge Technical Interview, we have something for you.
Speaker 1: Um and you know all of this, we have so many,
Speaker 1: so much programming. We have college loops across college campuses, um,
Speaker 1: you know, across the country, and you know, there's so
Speaker 1: many entry points. I'm hopeful that your listeners will think
Speaker 1: about how they can, you know, encourage a young person.
Speaker 1: Ask a girl, you know, a daughter, a niece, an intern,
Speaker 1: a mentee, whether she's considered you know, a career in tech.
Speaker 1: And all of us have a rule to play because
Speaker 1: we can also push back when we hear stereotypes about
Speaker 1: who belongs in the sector, and we can keep pushing
Speaker 1: a conversation that says that more folks should have a
Speaker 1: seat at the table. Got a story about an interesting
Speaker 1: thing in tech, or just want to say hi? You
Speaker 1: can reach us at Hello at tang godi dot com.
Speaker 1: You can also find transcripts for today's episode at tangdi
Speaker 1: dot com. There Are No Girls on the Internet was
Speaker 1: created by me Bridget Tod. It's a production of iHeart
Speaker 1: Radio and Unboss creative Jonathan Strickland as our executive producer.
Speaker 1: Tara Harrison is our producer and sound engineer. Michael Amato
Speaker 1: is our contributing producer. I'm your host, Bridget Todd. If
Speaker 1: you want to help us grow, rate and review us
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: check out the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast or wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. And then I have to him
Speaker 1: with and then I have to m it