Kimberly Bryant (technologist)

Kimberly Bryant is an African American electrical engineer who worked in the biotechnology field at Genentech, Novartis Vaccines, Diagnostics, and Merck. In 2011, Bryant founded Black Girls Code, a training course that teaches basic programming concepts to black girls who are underrepresented in technology careers. After founding Black Girls Code, Bryant has been listed as one of the "25 Most Influential African-Americans In Technology" by Business Insider.

Kimberly Bryant
Kimberly Bryant in 2016
BornJanuary 14, 1967
Memphis, Tennessee
Nationality United States
Alma mater
Known forFounder of Black Girls Code
Scientific career
FieldsElectrical Engineering

Early life and education

Bryant was born and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. She earned a degree in Electrical Engineering and minored in Computer Science at Vanderbilt University.[1][2][3]

Career

Bryant focused her studies at Vanderbilt on high-voltage electronics, and early in her career, she was hired at jobs at Westinghouse Electric and DuPont. Later, Bryant would move from electrical companies to biotechnology and later to pharmaceutical companies, where she worked at Pfizer, Merck, and at Genentech and Novartis.[4][1]

Black Girls Code

Bryant founded Black Girls Code after her daughter expressed an interest in learning computer programming,[2] and none of the available courses in the Bay area were well-suited for her: mostly boys, and rarely had other African American girls attending. Having experienced isolation herself during her time studying and working, she wanted a better environment for her daughter. Bryant hopes that this endeavor will allow young girls, especially those from minorities, to remain involved in STEM and increase awareness within the field. African-American women make up less than 3% of the workforce in the tech industry and Black Girls Code fights to change and improve this percentage for the better.[5]

Black Girls Code teaches computer programming to school-age girls in after-school and summer programs. The San Francisco-based nonprofit organization has a goal of teaching one million black girls to code by 2040.[2] The organization already has trained 3,000 girls in seven chapters in cities in the United States, and has one chapter in Johannesburg, South Africa, with plans to add chapters in eight more cities.[2]

In August 2017 Bryant was involved with turning down a $125,000 donation by Uber which she considered "disingenuous". The donation followed allegations of sexual harassment at Uber. Bryant also noted in her refusal, that Girls Who Code was offered ten times the amount that was offered to Black Girls Code. In February 2018 Black Girls Code partnered with Uber's competitor Lyft - as Bryant considered their values to be better aligned with her own.[6]

Recognition

In 2013, Bryant was recognized as a White House Champion of Change for Tech Inclusion.[7][8] That same year, she was voted one of the 25 Most Influential African-Americans In Technology by Business Insider.[9] Bryant was also awarded the Pahara-Aspen Education Fellowship.[7]

In 2014, Bryant was the recipient of Smithsonian Magazine's American Ingenuity Award for Social Progress.[10]

In 2019, Bryant was one of 65 finalists across 13 categories to present their projects at the 22nd annual Interactive Innovation awards presented by KPMG. [11]

In 2019, Bryant was presented the 2019 SXSW Interactive Festival Hall of Fame award. [12]

References
  1. Dubois, Lisa (2014). "Kimberly Bryant, BE'89, Is Changing the Face of High-Tech with Black Girls Code". Vanderbilt Magazine. Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  2. Rosenberg, Debra (November 2014). "Could This Be the Answer to the Tech World's Diversity Problem?". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  3. Costa, By Dan; March 22, 2019 8:00AM EST; March 22, 2019. "Black Girls Code CEO Is Changing the Face of Tech". PCMAG. Retrieved 2019-11-21.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. Gilpin, Lyndsey (April 7, 2014). "Black Girls Code founder Kimberly Bryant: Engineer. Entrepreneur. Mother". TechRepublic. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  5. Jackson, Cheryl V. "Why Black Girls Code's founder wants to get 1 million girls of color to code". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  6. http://www.blackenterprise.com/black-girls-code-lyft-uber/
  7. Johnson, Whitney (August 15, 2016). "Black Girls Code: The Next Steve Jobs Will Be A Woman of Color". Forbes. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  8. "Honoring Tech Inclusion Champions of Change at the White House". whitehouse.gov. United States of America. 8 August 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  9. Dickey, Megan Rose (April 4, 2013). "The 25 Most Influential African-Americans In Technology". Business Insider. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  10. "2014 American Ingenuity Award Winners". Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  11. Roth, Ari (January 22, 2019). "2019 SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards Finalists & Hall of Fame Inductee Kimberly Bryant". SXSW. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Alt URL
  12. Roth, Ari (January 22, 2019). "2019 SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards Finalists & Hall of Fame Inductee Kimberly Bryant". SXSW. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
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