Black Girls Code is back with another initiative to educate young Black girls about coding. According to an April 2024 press release, nonprofit Black Girls Code teamed up with GoldieBlox, a STEM-focused children’s multimedia company, for Code Along Jr. The free video-based coding academy is based on Code Along — a Black Girls Code coding program — and is for girls who are ages 7 to 10. Launched live in Los Angeles, CA , Kalani Jewel, a child actress, hosted the coding academy’s live event, the press release details. “Together, we can change the face of technology,” Black Girls Code CEO Cristina Jones shared in a statement. “Kalani, as a vibrant and energetic 12-year-old, is the perfect host for Code Along Jr. She shows girls that tech is fun, not scary. She reaches them at their level and shows them that they can do anything they want. This is so important because tech is at the center of everything we do, and Black girls absolutely have a lot to offer as entrepreneurs, executives,...

Black Girls Code has announced a new initiative to get more young students excited about coding.

As Kimberly Bryant prepares for life after Black Girls Code (BGC), the founder of the STEM program that champions young Black and brown girls sat down with AfroTech to discuss her side of the story. “I think it’s important for us to own our own stories as Black people and how we build,” said Bryant in an exclusive interview. “It’s not lost on me the fact that the organization that I founded and the organizational leadership that dismissed me from the organization that I created is utilizing a fully white PR firm, white law firm to take down, if you will, another Black woman as a founder.” She further explained how this has caused her a different type of pain as Bryant initially launched BGC out of love for her daughter and other Black and brown girls in early 2011. “This really was a project built from love and my desire to make a better pathway for all Black girls to be innovators and creators because I knew how difficult the path was for me as a Black woman in a STEM field that...

Earlier last week, the unprecedented announcement of Black Girls Code CEO and founder Kimberly Bryant being removed as the nonprofit’s head came in as a shock to the tech community. Kimberly Bryant alerted the public about the breaking news with a “press release” on Twitter. “Press release: So it’s 3 days before Christmas and you wake up to discover the organization YOU created and built from the ground up has been taken away by a rogue board with no notification,” Bryant wrote via Twitter. Press release: so it’s 3 days before Christmas and you wake up to discover the organization YOU created and built from the ground up has been taken away by a rogue board with no notification. VC: @BlackGirlsCode — kimberlybryant.eth (@6Gems) December 21, 2021 The tweet caused an uproar from her counterparts and followers who wanted to learn more details of the indefinite suspension and how to support Bryant. Recently, Bryant shared a statement with TechCrunch to further clear the air.

Nia Asemota is the product of what it looks like to defy societal norms. Coming from a Puerto Rican and Nigerian household, actively pursuing the computer science path didn’t seem possible to her adolescent self. The notion to pursue becoming either a doctor, lawyer, or engineer is commonly instilled in traditional Nigerian homes. Along with the societal pressure, Black women are widely underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). At the time, the intersection of both worlds widened the gap of who the aspiring computer scientist could look up to as she set out on the challenging road ahead. Thankfully, her initial doubts were dispelled after joining her first Black Girls CODE workshop in high school.

Best recognized for her prized role as Maxine Shaw on Living Single, Erika Alexander has successfully transitioned into a new season of her career. She now channels her attention toward promoting Black culture and excellence. Taking a leap of faith, Erika Alexander ventured into comic books having little to no experience in the arena which she reveals is distinct from writing for film and television. “We did it because we’re trying to move a mountain when we couldn’t move the mountain, we decided to make our own,” Alexander said in an exclusive interview with AfroTech. Launching Concrete Park in 2013 -written in conjunction with Tony Puryear (screenwriter of Eraser)- the comic explores themes of race, exile, and poverty through a dark tale where the protagonists do not aim to rebuild society, but they are fighting to create a new infrastructure. The comic series received massive success receiving recognition as The Best American Comics upon its release in 2013 and Forbes Magazine...

Black Girls CODE founder Kimberly Bryant started her ambitious organization as a basement experiment and quickly transformed it into a global movement to usher more Black women into the tech space. According to Capitol Technology University, Bryant garnered an interest in math and science as a young girl — fields that are known to be dominated by Asian and white men. Her organization’s website also shared that she often felt culturally isolated as she sometimes found herself to be the only Black woman or Black person among her college classmates. Despite this, she maintained her interests and followed a career path that would merge her passion with a grand mission to change the face of tech. NBC News reported that throughout her biotech engineering career and journey climbing the ranks at companies like DuPont, Phillip Morris and Genentech, Bryant longed to see a more inclusive world for her daughter Kai. “My daughter was about to go to middle school and was interested in tech and...

Last month, NIKE, Inc. announced a $40 million commitment to support Black initiatives in the fight against racial injustice over the next four years in a formal statement . Today, they continue their dedication by donating a $1 million grant to Black Girls CODE. Excited to announce that as part of @Nike 's $40M, four-year commitment to fight systemic injustice, the brand has donated $1M to support @BlackGirlsCode ! It's an honor to be recognized alongside @NAACP @NAACP_LDF two organizations driving impactful change. https://t.co/HsOuNKYtat pic.twitter.com/BlidQOa0iT — Black Girls CODE (@BlackGirlsCODE) July 29, 2020 Black Girls CODE — an organization dedicated to changing the narrative surrounding racial and gender diversity in STEM by educating and empowering girls and young women of color — is now considered an official partner of NIKE as they both work together to create long-lasting change for the Black community. “Our goal is to train 1 million girls by 2040, but that’s the...