With just a few days to spare, a technology nonprofit Black Girls Code broke through their $100,000 crowdfunding goal on Indiegogo, with the help from tech entrepreneurs and companies including:
- Craig Newmark of Craigslist,
- Mitch Kapor from The Kapor Center for Social Impact,
- Alexis Ohanian (Reddit, Breadpig)
- Robin Chase (Buzzcar, Zipcar)
- Kathryn Finney (digitalundivided)
- Plus Rackspace, TripAdvisor, and Zendesk.
On Monday, July 22nd, the campaign was pushed over its goal by David S. Rose, Founder & CEO of Gust and one of the country’s leading angel investors.
“Gust was delighted to be able to put the ‘Summer of CODE’ campaign over the top with a significant contribution,” said Rose. “Black Girls CODE is showing the world that girls of every color have the skills to become the programmers of tomorrow.”
Craig Newmark, founder, craiglist and craigconnects commented on the campaign stating,
“I figure that everyone should have a fair chance to learn tech, particularly coding. It results in better job opportunities, and can give people a chance to be heard.”
These leaders have collectively pledged over $50,000 to the campaign, joining nearly 900 giving in the range of $5-500.
Black Girls CODE Founder Kimberly Bryant said,
“The response from both the tech industry and our grassroots supporters has been amazing. Crowdfunding is inspiring, because every gift, be it $5 or $10,000, really does make a difference when they come together for collective impact. Our campaign shows the growing support we have in the community at large for our work to diversify the tech industry by introducing girls of color to computer programming.”
The funds raised will provide student scholarships, instructor stipends, and laptops. Contributions will also seed funding for Black Girls CODE chapters in eight markets nationwide, which will provide ongoing educational opportunities.
In 2011, Kimberly Bryant founded Black Girls CODE to increase the number of women of color in the digital space. Black Girls CODE is the only program targeting African American, Latina, and Native American girls in cities nationwide with training in mobile app development, game and web design. Black Girls CODE has already served more than 1,200 girls in cities across the United States and in South Africa.
Black Girls CODE will host a crowdfunding countdown mixer at tech space Hub Oakland Friday, July 26th Community members and techies are highly encouraged to attend the mixer to continue rallying during the last hours of its campaign.
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