BlackGirlsCODE and ThoughtWorks Go Global to Close the Digital Divide in South Africa

Oct. 10, 2012 - PRLog -- BlackGirlsCODE (BGC) is partnering with ThoughtWorks to take its mission global to inspire girls of color to become technology leaders.  Their first international workshop will be ‘Let's #ChangeTheRatio one girl at a time’, a one-day workshop on Saturday, October 13th, 2012 from 9am to 12pm at the ThoughtWorks office in  Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa. This workshop hopes to involve 30  future tech divas.

To sign up for the event, click here (http://www.meetup.com/BlackGirlsCodeJHB/events/85130332/).

During the “Let's #ChangeTheRatio one girl at a time” workshop, girls will be engage in learning about technology through various activities like Human Robot, UI/UX wire framing, and Logo, a visual programming language and environment designed for young blossoming developers. Volunteers from ThoughtWorks and other organizations with a background in computer science and engineering will attend the workshop and assist girls as they learn the tools of basic web programming. Girls from Kliptown Youth Program (http://www.kliptownyouthprogram.org.za/) and Trust Tomorrow (http://tomorrow.org.za/) will be attending the workshop.

Although this is the first seminar outside of the US, it will be the 8th workshop in BGC’s Summer of CODE campaign (http://www.indiegogo.com/BlackGirlsCode) which has already enrolled over 500 young girls of color aged 6-17. Its one-day workshops and week long classes introduce computer programming, robotics, electrical engineering and other areas of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).  

Kimberly Bryant (http://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlybryant), Founder of BlackGirlsCODE,  and recent winner of the Digital Vanguard Award from Womens Interactive, is excited to expand this program globally. “We were thrilled when employees in ThoughtWorks South Africa asked us to bring our workshop to their local office. We know that the digital divide is not limited to the United States. BlackGirlsCODE is determined to “change the ratio” by introducing girls at a young age to the world of technology and to feed the STEM pipeline so more women of color all over the world become the technology and innovation leaders of the future.’

Enyo Kumahor, Office Principal of ThoughtWorks South Africa states, "Black girls are going to be powerful change agents in Africa for building software that ALL Africans can use and that solve ALL African problems. We're excited to be launching BlackGirlsCODE Johannesburg to make this a reality."

BlackGirlsCODE has captured the attention of technology and community leaders around the country for its innovative approach to empowering girls from underrepresented communities to pursue career ambitions in an array of STEM-related fields during their launch of Summer of CODE.  As a committed partner, ThoughtWorks has been an immense advocate in supporting BlackGirlsCODE’s mission and united with them for their launch in South Africa.

Want BlackGirlsCODE to come to your city?

BlackGirlsCODE mission is to take our workshops global. Email us at future@blackgirlscode.com if you are interested in helping us host a workshop in your area.

About Thoughtworks

ThoughtWorks, Inc. is a global IT consultancy providing Agile-based systems development, consulting and transformation services to Global 1000 companies. At its core, ThoughtWorks helps CIOs maximize investment performance across a portfolio of complex, business-critical applications, while reducing time and risk. The company has pioneered many of the most advanced and successful Agile methods and best practices used in the industry today. Its products division, ThoughtWorks Studios, offers tools to manage the entire Agile development lifecycle through its Agile ALM toolset, comprised of Mingle®, Go™ and Twist®. ThoughtWorks employs over 2,000 professionals to serve clients from offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States.

ThoughtWorks Africa opened their first office in February 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa. It aims to build an office model that targets the economic class movement of marginalized populations - to build IT skills for people in marginalized communities and to hire the best of those people into the ThoughtWorks community.

About BlackGirlsCODE

Since 2011, BlackGirlsCODE has been committed to providing girls from underrepresented communities access to technology and the 21st century skills necessary to become the tech leaders and creators of tomorrow. BlackGirlsCODE’s Summer of CODE campaign was created as vehicle to bridge the digital divide and change the face of tech in the United States. The campaign serves as an awareness program to future weeklong programs taking place in Chicago, Oakland, and Atlanta in the fall.

Contact Information

Karen-Michelle Mirko

KarenMichelle.Mirko@gmail.com