Tech remains one of the least diverse industries when it comes to race and gender, but She Is Code, a local nonprofit organization founded by a teenager and her mom, is aiming to introduce and encourage more young girls of color to become interested in STEM and to hopefully pursue a career in it later down the line.
She Is Code, based out of Evanston, launched in 2016 when Drew Patterson, 15, expressed an interest in technology after participating in a youth STEM program at Northwestern University. Her mom, Tonya Patterson, realized there was an opportunity to help more young girls, like Drew, find and develop an interest in tech.
“It’s a labor of love for us,” Tonya Patterson said. “We’re bringing women and minorities together from all across the spectrum that have even just a small interest in technology. We’re creating a space where they can all come together and learn about the field."
She Is Code, and other similar organizations, like WiSTEM or AnitaB.org, are working to include more women and minorities in tech industries, an area that desperately needs it. Only 9 percent of Chicagoland’s tech workers are black, and of the region’s tech founders and entrepreneurs, only 2 percent are black, according to a report from Black Tech Mecca.
She Is Code presents tech concepts in an approachable and realistic way for participants, typically in middle and high school, Patterson said. They offer coding workshops, hackathons, robotics lessons and informational panels with computer science students at local universities. She Is Code has worked with a number of local colleges, including Northwestern University, DePaul University and the University of Chicago.
To give girls a real-world tech experience, She Is Code collaborates with local businesses that don’t have IT departments, and has them develop the businesses' websites and mobile apps.
“We’ve been able to get the girls some really cool projects to work on,” Patterson said. “We’re really excited about that real-life experience.”
She Is Code has about 30 members right now, but Patterson said they are looking to recruit more.
"What I'd like to be able to do is present a different face [for tech]," Patterson said. "We can begin to redefine that picture so that tech is something that girls are willing to try at an early age."
