This is part of WTOP’s continuing coverage of people making a difference in our community, reported by Stephanie Gaines-Bryant. Read more of that coverage.
When Cristina Mancini attended a technology conference in San Francisco nearly a decade ago, she said she looked around the room and realized she was the only Black woman in it. That’s when she knew she had to do something to help Black women get a seat at the technology table.
Mancini, a former Salesforce executive, is the CEO of Black Girls Code, a nonprofit organization founded in 2011 dedicated to preparing girls and gender-expansive youth of color to be the next generation of tech creators, innovators, designers and decision makers. Mancini said the group is helping millions of girls of color become part of the tech industry.
Less than 2% of all STEM jobs are held by Black women, according to Mancini.
“As we sit here talking about AI and technology touching all things and being part of many industries, there’s an entire demographic missing from the rooms where some of these technologies are being developed, where they’re being funded and even to an certain extent — a large extent — where they’re being marketed,” Mancini told WTOP.
Black Girls Code has a Code Along program on YouTube, a free video-based coding academy that gives step-by-step lessons and equips girls with tech skills and confidence.
The organization partners with local schools and community organizations to offer Code Clubs, weekly after-school programs, and it launched eight summer camps across the U.S. this summer. The summer camp program focused on computer vision through AI. Mancini said it used a curriculum that was developed by Responsible AI for Computational Action from MIT.
Mancini called communities of color “super users” of technology.
“So when you give the girls an opportunity to get behind the technology, to understand how to develop the technology, in ways that make sense to them, in ways they want to see it used, it’s really inspirational to see what they develop on the other side,” she said.
Since the inception of the organization, Black Girls Code has engaged with 30,000 girls. She said the current Code Along programming has reached over 4 million people on YouTube. Over the last six months, the group has engaged with over 2,500 girls live and 300 girls in summer camps.
Summer campers were ages 11 to 13. A D.C.-area camp was held at the Mastercard Tech Hub in Arlington, Virginia.
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