Training and connecting the coders of the future đź‘ľ Isis Miller, Black Girls CODE
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Episode at a glance:
GUEST: Isis Miller
COMMUNITY: Black Girls CODE
HOSTS: Bailey Richardson & Kevin Huynh
“We know that there is a tomorrow and we want to be able to prepare our girls and our community for what that tomorrow looks like. Not only prepare them for it, but make sure that they have a hand in building it. ”
- Isis Miller
Show Notes
Throughout her biotech engineering career, the founder of Black Girls CODE Kimberly Bryant, was often the only black female in the room. Kimberly’s experience wasn’t rare. In fact, it’s the norm. Black women make up less than 0.5% of the leadership roles in tech.
As Kimberly watched her young daughter Kai grow a budding interest in gaming and coding, but with no spaces to explore or develop those interests alongside people that looked like her, Kimberly decided to take charge. Kimberly and her colleagues at Genentech put together a six-week coding curriculum for girls of color in 2011, conducting the first educational series in a basement of a college prep institution in San Francisco. In a few years, the operation transformed from a basement experiment into a global non-profit with 15 chapters supported by volunteers under the name Black Girls CODE.
The Raleigh Tech “Divas” at a Black Girls CODE event
Isis Miller joined the organization early this year, just before COVID-19 struck. As a young girl, Isis had an early obsession with space and science but she too lacked role models that could propel her interests forward.
We’ll talk to Isis about how Black Girls CODE has gone virtual with online workshops and career panels that reach out to 1,000 students per week and what a meaningful partnership with Black Girls CODE means.
While you’re listening, keep an ear out for our favorite insights from Isis:
Defining the“why.”
Great community leaders get cognitively clear on two questions: “Who do I want to get together?” and “Why are we coming together?” With time, the answers might shift or expand.
Learning to code is only the tip of the iceberg in the Black Girls CODE experience. It’s a space for girls to be inspired, motivated, and build confidence in addition to coding skills. That is why girls and their parents and guardians continue to come back.
Black Girls Code event in Los Angeles.
A big shift to digital.
Isis has helped transition the organization from primarily hosting in-person events to online workshops and career panels that reach 1,000 students per week. Along the way, she has learned digital tricks and tactics that help Black Girls CODE activities stay true to their “why.” For example, during Zoom events organizers make sure cameras are always on so girls can see other girls who look like them and share their passion for coding.
Listening to the community’s needs.
In the wake of grief surrounding George Floyd’s death and the weight of 2020’s events, Isis held a program to unpack trauma–“honoring both joy and grieving.” When planning these programs, she asked questions like:
“What are the community’s needs now and how can we best serve them?”
“How do we give support to those who are supporting the community?”
After asking herself these questions, Isis decided to host a program that was not focused on the girls but rather those who support the girls — their parents and guardians — who were enduring the greatest need for support and peer mentorship in the moment.
Girls building connection, skills and a future with Black Girls Code.
Partnerships that magnify.
Entering into a healthy partnership with Black Girls CODE means “creating a relationship.” They look for folks who will go beyond the donation and build with them over years, not months.
Isis advises organizations to “sweep around your own front door before you try to sweep around mine.” Meaning that before you reach out to an organization like Black Girls CODE, you should take a hard look at your own organization. To become an anti-racist company, Isis recommends asking questions like: What does your C-Suite look like? What are the opportunities that you’re creating for upward mobility for black people in your own organizations?
👋🏻Say hi to Isis and Learn more about Black Girls CODE.
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