One initiative is helping to make a paradigm shift in how minorities see themselves, and in how the world sees minorities. It’s known as #YesWeCode.
The national initiative aims to help train 100,000 low-opportunity youth by providing them with essential resources and tools to become world-class computer programmers.
“Many have been searching for ways to uplift today’s urban youth and help them achieve a more promising future,” those from #YesWeCode said. “We believe that one solution lies in connecting tech and social justice leaders to spearhead revolutionary tech programs whose benefits extend to the most disadvantaged of society.”
WATCH VIDEO: WHAT IS #YESWECODE?
As the media continues to have consistent conversations on the lack of diversity in major tech companies, #YesWeCode is voicing the need for diversity in tech at a pivotal time.
“One of the things that tech companies should realize is that workplace diversity is directly beneficial to their own products and can offer a new perspective on the needs of people all over the world,” #YesWeCode Digital Associate Jenna Chambers told RIZZARR.
Those of #YesWeCode host a diversity of coding bootcamps, hackathons, and training programs, like #YesWeCode Coding Corps to ensure that disadvantaged youth across the country have exposure to STEM development opportunities. At many of the opportunities, youth also meet various employees at major tech companies.
“Our first mission is connect students of color to tech opportunities,” Chambers told RIZZARR. “When youth don’t have that exposure at a young age, they don’t know to think about majoring in computer science. This is especially true for immigrant families.”
Students participating in #YesWeCode hackathon at Essence Festival (Photo courtesy of #YesWeCode)
Students participating in another hackathon (Photo courtesy of #YesWeCode)
Additionally, the Bay Area-based initiative works directly with tech companies, educators, and the local government to address the diversity gap and the challenges facing Silicon Valley and the tech industry. They believe this will balance the level playing field for tech careers in the future.
“Right now, the statistics show that in 2020, there will be a million tech jobs that are not going to be filled, because we only have 400,000 students on track now to fulfill those jobs. This is a huge gap and I think that is a big wake-up call. To address this, we want to find students from under-represented backgrounds to train them and fill those positions.”
So far, many students who have participated in #YesWeCode say it has changed the trajectory of their lives, allowing them to see the possibilities of what they can become. For instance, Clemson University student Kalila Pyfron said she is grateful for #YesWeCode, because it expanded her views about herself and the capabilities of all minorities in computer science.
Kalila Pyfron is pictured here with her team after winning a hackathon. She says #YesWeCode has changed the way she sees herself and the opportunities that she has. (Photo courtesy of Estella’s Brilliant Bus)
“#YesWeCode gives minority kids the opportunity to make connections and the opportunity to do something that is perceived to be unreachable,” Pyfron said. “If more minority kids continue to get involved, then maybe there will be new things that they will create to help the economy and the world.”
The twenty-year-old told RIZZARR she first heard about #YesWeCode two years ago, and participated in one of their hackathons in association with Estella’s Brilliant Bus. She and her team won the hackathon and received scholarships: “The experience definitely made me aware of what coding involved, how easy it can be, how we can all do it, and the opportunities that can come from it. It has opened up a lot of connections for me and has made me more confident about computer science.”
WATCH VIDEO: Estella’s Brilliant Bus Elevating Innovation Among The Young
Pyfron continues to volunteer for Yes We Code events along with 19-year-old Joseph Jones, another student who participated in the hackathon. Jones said before the hackathon, he had no clue what career path to take or what to major in during college. His participation changed everything.
“The hackathon changed my life,” Jones told RIZZARR. “I was reluctant at first to participate. But then I decided to, since I didn’t know what I wanted to do. From attending, I actually decided to major in computer science, and I am now attending Florida A&M University.”
He believes #YesWeCode can help more minority youth to believe in themselves and in the possibilities they have in computer science: “I think they often doubt themselves and that they have the ability to be a Steve Jobs or another CEO of a Microsoft company. They kind of underestimate their abilities. Personally, I underestimated myself. However, because of others pushing me, I realized the only thing stopping me is myself.”
“If more minority kids continue to get involved, then maybe there will be new things that they will create to help the economy and the world,” Dante Jcharles said to RIZZARR. (Photo courtesy of #YesWeCode)
Seventeen-year-old Dante Jcharles also said participating in #YesWeCode has helped him to believe in his abilites. He’s grateful that his principal pushed him to join and now he thinks others should too: “Before #YesWeCode, I never knew what coding was. I think that most minority young students don’t, but they should. They can come up with ideas that can change the world.”
(Image courtesy of #YesWeCode)
(Image courtesy of #YesWeCode)
As for the future of #YesWeCode, those of the initiative say they plan to create and expand their programs in an effort to allow more minority youth across the nation to realize and tap into their full potential.
Interested in finding out how you can get involved in #YesWeCode or volunteer to inspire more youth? Find out how by clicking here!
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