Black Girls Code to Receive $190,000 Donation from Google

Founded in 2011, Black Girls Code works across the country to expose young Black and Brown girls to the opportunities with growing tech sector. Kimberly Bryant, an electrical engineer by training, began the organization because of her own experiences in the field.


The New York Daily News reports that the group will soon get a big donation from Google.

Google will announce Saturday a donation of $190,000 to the Black Girls Code initiative, which seeks to diversify the white, male-dominated tech industry.

Saturday’s bilingual session at Google’s Chelsea headquarters will teach 75 black and Latina 12- to 17-year-olds how to build a mobile app in one day.

“Our goal is to change the face of technology by showing the world that girls of color can code and do so much more,” said Kimberly Bryant, founder of the nonprofit with seven chapters across the country and one in Johannesberg, South Africa.

The six-hour session will use a simple development kit that allows the amateur coders to create apps using programming “blocks” similar to puzzle pieces. Each block represents different commands and functions that, when combined, animate a program.

The New York City outpost of Black Girls Code is the fastest-growing of the bunch, and the Google grant will allow the tech group to hire its first full-time employees in the city.

Watch Kimberly Bryant explain the group's mission.



Photo Credit: Shutterstock