'You can't be what you can't see': Girls Who Code pursues brighter future for women in tech
Where are all the girls?
That was one of the questions that prompted the creation of Girls Who Code.
"We always say that you can’t be what you can’t see,” said Tarika Barrett, CEO of Girls Who Code.
Girls Who Code was founded by Reshma Saujani to help change the narrative of what a computer scientist should look like. The organization works to create equal opportunities in tech for those who identify as women or non-binary.
“We need to have our voices within an industry that has such a huge outsized influence and impact on our lives,” said Barrett. “And when you think about it right now, tech, as we experience it, is very much the result of the priorities of a privileged few.”
What started as 20 girls in a conference room soon turned into over 500,000 young women and non-binary students all over the world learning code. They’ve even branched into making the gaming world more inclusive with the program, Girls Who Code Girls.
“It's building that movement where we are fighting to change a culture that tells our girls and our young women that they don't belong in tech. And we have to show them that they deserve a seat at the table,” said Barrett.
Girls Who Code alumni Devika Chipalkatti found a seat at that table.
From starting a website dedicated to the pop group One Direction to becoming a software engineer for Disney at Marvel, she credits Girls Who Code for helping her get to where she is today.
“I think Girls Who Code is really good at really understanding collaboration and what it means to uplift others,” said Chipalkatti. “And in every single pillar of my life through Girls Who Code, I have felt that and I felt welcomed.”
Girls Who Code creates a community that seemed to be unlike anything else out there.
“To see women who look like me, who've come from different experiences like me, social economic backgrounds and to have them to say 'I'm a Girls Who Code alum and I am now a software engineer,'” said Chipalkatti. “That's what makes Girls Who code so important because representation matters.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Girls Who Code aims to break barriers in tech world
