KIMBERLY BRYANT
Electrical Engineer
Founder and Executive Director of Black Girls CODE. Black Girls CODE is a non-profit organization whose mission is to teach girls of color to become digital creators and technology leaders.
Kimberly Bryant received her Bachelor’s of Engineering degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee with a major in Electrical Engineering and a minor in CS and math. She has worked in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries for over 20 years as an Engineering Manager in a series of technical leadership roles for various Fortune 100 companies, such as Genentech, Merck, and Pfizer. She serves on the National Champions Board for the National Girls Collaborative Project and the National Board of the NCWIT K-12 Alliance. In 2013, she was honored by the White House for her work in tech inclusion and her focus on bridging the digital divide for girls.
In 2011Clark founded the Black Girls Code nonprofit organization dedicated to providing technology education to young girls between the ages of 7-17. The organization offers programs in computer programming, coding, as well as website, robot, and mobile application-building, with the goal of providing African-American youth with the skills to the 1.4 million computing job openings expected to be available in the U.S. in 2020.
Black Girls Code has become a phenomenon with African American females nationwide and in Africa, quickly expanding in the USA and abroad. Headquartered in Bayview-Hunters Point, San Francisco, the organization grew to 2,000 students by August 2013 within the 7 established institutions operating in 7 States across the US, as well as in Johannesburg, South Africa. BGC also hosts bilingual workshops in partnership with Latino Startup Alliance.
The nonprofit organization’s ultimate goal is “to grow to train 1 million girls by 2050 and become the ‘girl scouts’ of technology.”
Black Girls Code depends on a vast body of volunteers to design and conduct workshop classes. Professionals from the IT sector share their expertise with the young students, helping them get acquainted with the fundamentals of software design in languages such as Scratch or Ruby on Rails..
BGC primarily relies on donations to fund its activities; 75% of students are currently on scholarships.
The motto of the Black Girls Code is:
“Imagine. Build. Create. – Imagine a world where everyone is given the tools to succeed, and then help us build ways for everyone to access information and create a new age of women of color in technology”.
Recognition Awards
White House Champion of Change Tech Inclusion 2013
August 2013
The White House honors eleven Americans who are doing extraordinary things to expand technology opportunities for young learners—especially minorities, women and girls, and others from communities historically underserved or underrepresented in tech fields.
Jefferson Award for Public Service
CBS Bay Area
August 2012
Bryant has been listed as one of the “25 Most Influential African-Americans In Technology” by Business Insider.
Bryant was also awarded the Pahara-Aspen Education Fellowship.
THE GOOD 100
2013 THE ROOT 100
2013 EBONY Power 100
The EBONY Power 100 is an annual listing of the nation’s most influential African-Americans. The 2013 Power 100 includes a broad-range listing of game-changers across a diverse mix of industry spaces.
2013 Daily Point of Light Award
The power of the individual to spark change and improve the world – that’s what the Daily Point of Light Award celebrates, with more than 5,000 winners so far.
The Daily Point of Light Award celebrates the power of the individual to spark change and improve the world.
2014 Government Technology Top 25 Winner
2016 WITI ( Women in Technology Hall of Fame) Inductee