00:00my name is Chrissy Brautigan and I lead
00:02user experience research at github one
00:04of my projects that github is T work on
00:06an event called patch work which is an
00:10event where we introduce newcomers to
00:11get and github to experts in the field
00:14and we bring them together to learn how
00:18to get started in the world of
00:19open-source hi I'm Susan Burnett
00:24I'm a former Yahoo Netscape and AOL
00:27product development executive and when I
00:30moved to Oakland I started an
00:32organization called hack the hood that
00:34teaches coding and tech skills to
00:36low-income young people of color hi I'm
00:40Laura Weidman powers I'm the co-founder
00:42and CEO of a non-profit based here in
00:45San Francisco called code 2040 we work
00:48on creating pathways into the tech
00:50sector for blacks and Latinos hi I'm
00:54John Ian the CEO of founders building
00:57code we're a national nonprofit that
00:59seeking a close the gender gap in
01:01computer science and education excellent
01:05well I know the topic that we're talking
01:06about today is code literacy and I
01:09thought a really good place to begin
01:10would be if we actually give it some
01:12meaning because when I when I was first
01:15introduced to me I thought well what
01:16does that actually mean so I'd love to
01:17go around and have everyone define what
01:20Co literacy means to you I've thought
01:24about this a lot because of all of the
01:27hype about programming languages and
01:30coding and you have to code and I think
01:32I have a broader definition than being
01:34able to write C or Ruby on Rails or have
01:38one specific language I think that
01:39everyone today more and more is going to
01:42need how to need to know how to write
01:45basic HTML to understand CSS to have
01:48some of the tools to manipulate
01:50environments but they live in and that
01:52includes different kinds of scripting so
01:54whether it's using some kind of library
01:56or assembler or it's actually learning
01:58how to write a specific coding language
02:00I think we're all going to find that
02:02more and more of those are going to
02:03become part of the toolset for being an
02:09I mean I think it's what's interesting
02:12to me about this idea of coding literacy
02:14is that part of the concept is about
02:18being able to be a producer but even
02:20more important I think and more
02:23realistic if we're talking about having
02:25this be the fourth are reading writing
02:30arithmetic and writing code is just a
02:34familiarity with what it means even
02:37being able to understand kind of the
02:39type of language that Susan is using a
02:41lot of students say a lot of adults
02:43today that would be gibberish and as
02:47technology becomes more and more
02:49important in various sectors and the
02:51economy as a whole it's so important
02:53that we're able to speak the language
02:55even if we're not able to write in it
02:58yeah basically that Tony is a 21st
03:04century skill set right it's just like
03:06reading and writing today and you see
03:08that happens with our girls in the fact
03:13technology that they are me I think the
03:15other thing when I think this coding
03:17literacy it's about how technology can
03:19be the great equalizer one of the things
03:22that we've really learned as well be
03:24curly that regardless of socioeconomic
03:26status most of our girls are being left
03:28behind and that we have seen entire
03:31families being able to be lift up into
03:33the middle class but being like getting
03:35access to coding and technology and
03:37giving opportunities to work in these
03:38companies we're changing the trajectory
03:40of their entire their families in their
03:42community excellent wow that's um that's
03:47really powerful and when I was I was
03:50looking over everyone's backgrounds one
03:52of the things that stuck out to me was
03:54we were talking about code literacy
03:55coding literacy today together but it
03:59looks like we have you know none of us
04:02actually seem to come from a proper
04:03engineering background so I was
04:05wondering if you could talk a little bit
04:06about it how you actually got started
04:08with your organization in this space
04:13student sure I spent many years working
04:18in New York and in Silicon Valley as
04:20patek executive with a focus on product
04:24development so I was the person who kind
04:25of sat between the engineering team the
04:28business team user experience team and
04:29really had to come up with what were the
04:32opportunities of the solutions how could
04:34we sequence and ship product where we
04:37could afford to build something
04:39significant but do in a way that really
04:41addressed the bottom line and working
04:44with engineers and discovering that I
04:46really enjoyed product vision and
04:49product development and loved the waves
04:51of attack could self problem this was
04:53very very motivating to me and when I
04:56moved to Oakland I was still doing a
04:57start-up a commercial startup but I
05:00ended up starting a nonprofit called
05:02Oakland local that was a hyperlocal news
05:05site and I also saw that all my
05:07neighbors were so cut off from the
05:09capacity to use tech as a solution that
05:11the Google buses and the Yahoo buses
05:13would go through the neighborhood and
05:15they felt so shut off and so alienated
05:17because they were there kids didn't have
05:20classes that were relevant didn't know
05:22people in the industry I didn't have any
05:25access to understanding what the jobs
05:27were how they would get there and that
05:29was a big part for me of becoming
05:31interested in hack the hood it was how
05:33can we change the pipeline so these
05:36fantastic young people don't end up
05:38working in service jobs while other
05:40people get these jobs but are really
05:42exploding the bay area you know one of
05:46the things that Reshma brought up that
05:48we think a lot about at code 2040 is
05:50that that wealth gap that income divide
05:53and how the salary of an average tech
05:57worker is more than the median household
05:59income of a black family and a Latino
06:01family combined so there's so much power
06:04for economic development by connecting
06:07communities to tech particularly
06:11communities that have been excluded that
06:13for me you know I worked at a tech
06:16startup I also worked in product
06:17development and product management and I
06:20find the engineering skill set
06:22absolutely fascinating and so valuable
06:24but for me it's it's really about it
06:26being a means to an end that this is you
06:29know Marc Andreessen talks about
06:31software eats the world and it like it's
06:34true you know you can just look five ten
06:36years ahead and see that happening and
06:38so this is economic development for me
06:41as opposed to being about engineering
06:43specifically yeah I mean with Walter
06:48Isaacson's book you know the innovators
06:50and it's really interesting so how much
06:52progress was made at the intersection of
06:54humanities and funny and I think you
06:57know for me I in some ways represents
06:59the boys and girls who when I was
07:01throwing up was terrified of math and
07:03science or said I hated math when I
07:05you know I had a family I thought it was
07:07a family 11 years and this fear haunted
07:12and this inability to speak to technical
07:14people to really embrace the language
07:17and it's something that when I was
07:19running for office in 2010 really
07:22decided I wanted to do something about
07:24it because I saw the gender divide I'm a
07:26mouth and a feminist with the Capitol
07:28Act you look at the trajectory of
07:30women's and the majority of our
07:32breadwinners sir the majority of our
07:33labor force but you know less than 20%
07:36of them are you feeling the technical
07:38jobs in the future and there's been a
07:41you know and that's there's been a
07:42serious reversal in the past 30 or 40
07:44years and it doesn't make sense and it
07:46has to stop and that is where you know
07:49it's my passion where this topic really
07:51comes from so I love we're talking a lot
07:57about where we're at right now and what
07:59I'm wondering about is if we go back a
08:00little bit in each of your personal
08:02histories to a time before you have the
08:04organization that you're leading right
08:06now could you share a story about
08:08somebody who helped you get started I
08:11you know I think a lot back to my
08:16freshman year of college actually when
08:18we were all gathered and kind of the
08:21first week of school and the Dean stood
08:23up and said something that you all
08:26should know is that you should never
08:27take no for an answer and I thought that
08:30was a pretty bold statement given that
08:31now there were 1600 freshmen who are
08:33gonna be running around doing exactly
08:35what they wanted on campus and not
08:36listening to Authority but I've really
08:38carried that with me thinking about what
08:42is possible and who defines that
08:47and I think that you know being an
08:50entrepreneur starting an organization
08:52requires a healthy dose of not taking no
08:55for an answer and so I wish I could even
08:57remember the name of that Dean I have no
08:59idea who the person was that delivered
09:00that message but I remember hearing it
09:02and I remember thinking about it and
09:03internalizing it and I think it's really
09:05impacted how I've made choices in my
09:08career at a lot of steps along the way
09:10yeah I want I mean I think Rosie called
09:14success is really about who are
09:15believers working very early
09:18you know those first articles and so we
09:20couldn't get a foundation to support us
09:23and our first seed money came from the
09:25shop our ham who is a female eBay and
09:27that contact the CEO of GE and Dikshit
09:30sell it Twitter or Jack Dorothy and
09:32people who just a new lifetime knows an
09:34idea in your head but that idea and it
09:36may not work but I'm gonna give you a
09:38little bit of seed capital see if it
09:40dies and so much of our journey as
09:42ionization has been people you know want
09:45Sheryl Sandberg on the house atomic
09:47email sent me an email being like oh my
09:50how can I help you and and that's really
09:52kind of been the story of our journey in
09:55terms of people really saying this is
09:56awesome this needs to happen and like
09:58what can I do to really make make this
10:00possible and I think that's why over the
10:03past three years we've been able to grow
10:04from 20 girls in 2012 to 3,000 today I
10:10think I had trouble answering that
10:12question because in my own career well
10:14I've had incredible advocates and allies
10:16I don't really feel that there was
10:18anybody who really helped me if like I
10:21kind of battled my way into it because
10:23there were very hard problems that
10:25people had to find someone who had a
10:28perspective to come in and help solve so
10:31when you asked me that I can think of
10:34lots of wonderful people I loved working
10:35with I don't think actually have had a
10:38mentor in tech or someone who helped me
10:42and in fact I think that you know part
10:43of the reason I'm doing what I do is as
10:45a woman and as an executive in Silicon
10:47Valley I experienced a lot of feelings
10:49of being the other and as someone who
10:51wasn't an engineer I had to really fight
10:53for my ability to you know make the
10:58decisions that my role called for
11:00so you know I think we need to grow a
11:02lot more authentic mentors for women and
11:05for young people of color because I
11:06think it can actually be very
11:07challenging wow that's really powerful
11:11that plays into you something that I
11:12personally wonder a lot about and what
11:15we work with at patchwork which is
11:16helping people to develop confidence and
11:19so maybe another way to ask this
11:22question thinking about mentorship is
11:24where does your confidence to run these
11:26organizations come from you know it I
11:31think for me it's interesting to think
11:36of it as far as my confidence come from
11:37because I think there's often a thin
11:40line between what I'm feeling confidence
11:41and what I'm feeling fear and the
11:44confidence really comes from other
11:49people validating the organization
11:53choices that I've made my team support
11:56but at the same time I you know every
12:00decision that I make I'm like I don't
12:02know if this is the right decision how
12:03do I know if this is the right decision
12:04and so there's this constant kind of
12:07back-and-forth between when I'm feeling
12:10confident and when I'm feeling like you
12:12know I have no idea what I'm doing and
12:16we think about that a lot as an
12:18organization I mean this field is pretty
12:21new thinking about diversity in tech
12:23when we first started talking about code
12:252040 there wasn't a dialogue about this
12:28and now there is and so a lot of the
12:32choices that we were making at the
12:34beginning there wasn't much of a stage
12:35it didn't you know it mattered but
12:38nobody was paying attention and now
12:40that's really different and so having
12:43kind of communities of support is really
12:45important to feeling confident because
12:47there's a lot of kind of validation in
12:49the field that I feel like I draw
12:52strength from now that that wasn't
12:54available at the beginning I think for
12:57me it's that I'm very focused on
12:59outcomes and on user centered design and
13:04with hack the hood we started to iterate
13:08violet in 2012 that funded in a program
13:11in 2013 and I felt this incredible sense
13:15of responsibility and opportunity we've
13:20gotten such a tremendous explosion of
13:22support in the past six months for
13:23what's a very young program I feel like
13:26you know I can't screw this up
13:28I can I can make mistakes but they have
13:30to be mistakes that we can afford to
13:32make they have to be manageable risks
13:35and I don't want to be the person who
13:37had so much opportunity and then it
13:40didn't work so I'm always looking at you
13:43know where should we pivot are we on the
13:45right track how do we minimize the risk
13:47so we can try new things but at the same
13:50time we're not making fatal errors and
13:53you know I think I think the confidence
13:55is really driven by the need to go
13:57forward I liked what I liked what Laura
14:00said because I also joke that I'm driven
14:02by fear like a lot of my drive comes
14:05from wanting to avoid certain things
14:08that you know are bad outcomes so it's
14:10like well how do I go over there it's
14:11gonna be good because I don't want to
14:13end up over there Susan and I have
14:15already decided to have lunch next week
14:17to support one another I think the real
14:20question we want to ask is when so many
14:23women are being accused of being
14:25imposters or people worried about having
14:27an impostor syndrome how do you kind of
14:30move forward in that context of a
14:31society might see you that way well I
14:35mean I think it's about embracing
14:37failure you know I think that our early
14:40snorkeled when we don't wait line and
14:42part of what I feel that this merely
14:44holding women back is is that we've been
14:46taught to not you know not solicit risk
14:49and to not fail and to be afraid of
14:51failure you know for me personally I've
14:53lost two elections I feel all the time
14:56like every day you know I get what I set
14:58myself up for and so that in many ways I
15:01think has really built my confidence I'm
15:04not afraid to do anything anymore
15:05look I know what it's like to like be in
15:08the ditch and it feel really bad and I
15:11questioned everything about myself and
15:13not know what tomorrow's don't look like
15:15and like since I've walked that journey
15:17like everything else you know so much
15:20more frightening and like who's less
15:22frightening and like that's really what
15:24I've really tried to teach our girls at
15:27close to code is to is to say oh I'm
15:30coding is about feeling like it is I
15:32mean I'm I'm learning how to code I've
15:34been learning how to look it is so
15:35frustrating you know especially the type
15:38a woman who wants to get my code right
15:39all the time and that is what I love
15:42about the work that we do is that it's
15:44almost by learning coding they're
15:45learning how to fail and you learn to
15:48accept failures in right field because
15:49when we get it right like there's no
15:51other but there's no other offensive
15:53than that I think it's important to you
15:56I mean just having conversations like
15:59this and understanding our relationships
16:01with failure and with risk and with our
16:06communities a big part of what we try to
16:08do at code 2040 for our students who you
16:11know are some are women they're all
16:14black or Latinos so they're all in
16:17statistically other in the organizations
16:20that they're in is try to build
16:22community amongst them so that there is
16:25a base of support that allows them to
16:26feel like they can go out and try and
16:28maybe fail it's really hard to feel like
16:30failing is an option if you don't feel
16:33like there's a net to catch you and so
16:36sometimes that's that's real that's you
16:40know it could be an economic safety net
16:42or family but sometimes it's really just
16:45perceived it's feeling like your
16:48community is still gonna be there for
16:49you even if you don't perform the way
16:52that that you wish that you did I also
17:03think that one of the things that
17:05happens in our culture is that when
17:06people fail it validates this internal
17:09sense of themselves but they're not
17:11really qualified to do something or
17:13they're not really good at it and one of
17:15the things that we do with the hack the
17:16hood young people who come in with a lot
17:18of internalized racism a lot of feeling
17:20of I couldn't do this I wouldn't fit in
17:22people won't accept me is really work
17:25with them to give them confidence by
17:28development and the fact that when they
17:30start to meet people who actually are
17:32working in tech in companies and real
17:34jobs they can say wow that person is
17:37writing them as coding language well I'm
17:39using Weebly and I'm building websites
17:42and it's a lot simpler but it's actually
17:44on the same continuum it's in the same
17:46family of skills it's just more
17:48complicated and I think that we all need
17:50that we all need to have a discipline
17:52where you're building a muscle if you if
17:54you fail you've done something once you
17:56failed 100 percent of a time so you know
17:59if you're working at something and you
18:01fail you know 10 percent of the time
18:03well how many times is that you know
18:06it's it's a small percentage and I think
18:08that's really really important for
18:10everybody who's fighting obstacles in
18:13building a career to know that not only
18:15is it ok to fail but like what
18:17percentage is gonna be a success and
18:20what percentage is gonna be get up and
18:22do it again and to expect that you're
18:24not gonna succeed 100% at the time
18:25exactly that you know it's I was about
18:29to try to make a baseball analogy but I
18:31I I can't pull it off but you know a
18:33good batter is not batting a thousand
18:36and we expect people who are good at
18:40about a thousand in real life it's just
18:43and you also see that there are serial
18:45entrepreneurs for me
18:47a giant transformative experience was
18:50having my tech stars
18:52startup fail I was one of the most
18:54senior experienced people in that class
18:56and I was one of the people decided to
18:58not take any money and you know I spent
19:01a lot of time afterwards saying what can
19:03I learn for this experience so I don't
19:05end up in this spot again and the next
19:08two things I did were both really
19:10successful by my standards but it was
19:12such a it was such a painful experience
19:14to not end up where I thought I would is
19:17like I have to find a way to learn from
19:18this or it's just gonna be too hard
19:21so one of the things that we do when
19:24we're teaching git and github actually
19:27like we're sort of teaching some of
19:28these basic skills for people is we we
19:30have something called a merge conflict
19:31which ends up being a situation a
19:34technical situation where you've
19:36actually introduced a conflict into code
19:39and it turns out that that's a thing
19:40that people are really afraid of and it
19:43keeps them from feeling like they can
19:44succeed when they're trying to actually
19:46get involved in an open-source project
19:48so what we try and do and what we're
19:50hopeful to do is actually teach through
19:52guided errors where we we actually take
19:55you into a merge conflict we teach you
19:57how to get out of it instead of having
20:00you avoid avoid it entirely so I'm
20:04curious when we think about each of your
20:06organization's like what's one thing
20:07that you do to help students or to help
20:10participants actually build confidence
20:12you know we teach a lot of who do a lot
20:16of public speaking in our program so we
20:19make sure they're almost get up into
20:20that you know if I'll never forget last
20:23year also an opportunity to just like
20:27basically present Facebook that that's
20:29what they had so you can Facebook API to
20:31Sheryl Sandberg's and I'm mouthing at
20:34watching their was through your eyes
20:35conference room you know Cheryl comes
20:36out when really cool like black leather
20:38pants the girl starts screaming when
20:40she's Beyonce you know and they and she
20:43walks in and they stand up you know one
20:45by one she likes you influence you know
20:48these the fact that they had meant to
20:50Sheryl Sandberg and they weren't shaken
20:53they weren't nervous they were fierce in
20:55my soul and it is so amazing to watch
20:59the confidence that they had and there
21:02were 16 years old but I don't know if I
21:04kids I'm not back then and it was just
21:07you know we make sure that we create
21:08these opportunities in our program to
21:11get them prepared to like you know those
21:14things are like no John you don't like
21:16their API we both stand up like you know
21:18you know tighten and give them advice on
21:23what they think that they can
21:24technically do differently me and I
21:26think it prepares them for when they get
21:28into their cs101 class and they're
21:30invariably going to be you know one in a
21:3320% or 30% of the class or when they get
21:36to you know a tech company and there are
21:38a lot of women in the room they have no
21:40question about their ability because
21:43we've already created and they've built
21:44something and they've presented it
21:46before we focus a lot on using scrum and
21:51agile development technique
21:52teaching teamwork so the kids learn that
21:54they can be play to your strengths
21:57participants where they're accountable
21:58for their work they're checking in with
22:01what they're doing but they also can say
22:03what they need help with either from the
22:05scrum master or from a teammate and I
22:09think that's been very powerful because
22:11most of them are coming from
22:11environments where they haven't had a
22:13chance to experience teamwork except
22:16maybe where it's been kind of boy stood
22:18on them and kind of monitored but this
22:20is much more organic and much more
22:23transparent and that's been that's been
22:25great for the kids to actually see
22:27themselves succeeding an environment
22:29where they have a lot more control and
22:31they're learning how to work with each
22:32other I think - we do two main things at
22:36Code 2041 is try to show the students
22:40that there's a large group of people
22:42that care about them and want them to
22:43succeed and so over the course of the
22:46summer that they spend with us
22:47there's literally a parade of people
22:49from the industry mentoring them doing
22:52workshops speaker series hosting them
22:55for networking events and the message
22:59that that sends is that there are people
23:01out there who care who want you here
23:03you're welcome and that is a big
23:07confidence booster and the second thing
23:09is provide some actual tangible tools so
23:13I'll never forget the first summer we
23:15had a coach working with the students
23:17who said how many of you want to succeed
23:19in your internship this summer they all
23:21raised their hand how many of you want
23:25to complete all your projects
23:27successfully they all raised their hand
23:29how many of you know what your manager
23:33thinks is success for you silence and
23:37they suddenly realize that they've been
23:39thinking from their perspective and not
23:41from the company's perspective or their
23:42managers perspective and so the next
23:45half-hour we spent role-playing what it
23:47looks like to have that conversation
23:48with your manager to understand the
23:50organization's expectations for you not
23:52just your own and that was a really
23:55tangible tool that they could use the
23:56next day that led to a really high rate
24:00of success and their internships that
24:01summer so and Laura I want to kind of
24:05off of that I'm wondering about we're
24:08talking about different entry points for
24:10especially young people or people who
24:12are career changing who want to get into
24:14the industry into the tech industry and
24:17I'm wondering like what do you think
24:19companies are lacking right now to help
24:20newcomers be successful it's that's a
24:26big tough question and it's something
24:29that we think a lot about and that
24:31companies frankly should be thinking a
24:33lot about as well I think there's a bit
24:37of a kind of Wild West individualistic
24:42culture out here in Silicon Valley and
24:45in startups which is part of what makes
24:48Silicon Valley successful and what makes
24:50startup successful but it also means
24:53that there's a bit of a reliance on
24:57everybody kind of finding finding their
25:00own way to fit in and not a lot of
25:03concentrated effort on how do we create
25:05a culture or an environment that is
25:07inclusive I'm gonna bungle the
25:11statistics but I read that the percent
25:15of Silicon Valley tech startups that
25:18actually have an HR function at a point
25:21when you know most organizations
25:24elsewhere in the country do is like 6%
25:26it's there just is very little thought
25:29or input early on put into what is the
25:32culture that we're creating and how do
25:33we make it inclusive and the burden then
25:36becomes on the individual to fit in as
25:39opposed to the company to figure out how
25:41to create a welcoming environment so I
25:45think companies need to really think
25:47about how what choices they make on a
25:51day to day basis whether its policies or
25:53parties or what-have-you that are
25:58thoughtful culture creators as opposed
26:00to just a default or what's easy or what
26:03happens because you don't think about it
26:05it's human nature to hire people who
26:07look like you or you're comfortable with
26:09or who you wanna go grab a beer with and
26:10I think that really being conscious
26:16you know Melanie house exhibits great
26:18TED talk on being color belief rather
26:20than colorblind but but you know having
26:23a really open honest conversation about
26:26race and gender and setting some goals
26:28and figuring out how you get there and I
26:31think you know so the new champion
26:33cannot please and so having more people
26:36who look like the diversity that you
26:38want to teach actually making those HR
26:40decisions and making a lot of the common
26:42sense sitting on your board you know all
26:44of that can really make a difference and
26:46I think if you're intentional about it
26:48these numbers can shift quite quickly
26:50because there isn't an aptitude problem
26:53you know there isn't an interest problem
26:55you know but you can build in to the
26:58extent there's a supply-side problem
27:00when it comes to women in people of
27:01you know as you've seen with the legal
27:03and medical professions in the nineteen
27:05seventies only ten percent of doctors
27:07and lawyers are women and today that
27:09number is 25 percent so it's possible to
27:13do that in our lifetime you just have to
27:14be committed to it I agree with what
27:17everyone said but I have some
27:19reservations hack the hood is working
27:21with very low income kids of color and I
27:25think it's very important for tech
27:27companies to understand but it's not
27:29just about increasing the pool of people
27:32of color and women who go to Stanford
27:35and get out and have the opportunity to
27:37do an internship at Google actually
27:39think there's a lot of creativity and
27:41innovation and talent and people who
27:44find it really challenging to go to
27:46Community College because they can't get
27:47childcare and I'm really focused on how
27:51do we create opportunities at elite tech
27:53companies and in startups for people who
27:56have lives that don't fit into a
27:58nine-to-five that is about doing an
28:02internship where there is no childcare
28:04provided and what are you going to do or
28:06is about just piping more people into an
28:10elite school I think that's super
28:12important but I also see there are a lot
28:14of people who have tremendous ability
28:15and I don't want them to get lost so for
28:19for hack the hood we're very interested
28:20in how do we kind of funnel people from
28:23our program to the right place where
28:25they can go whether that's
28:28a four-year college or it's a training
28:30program or it's some kind of
28:32apprenticeship but there are too many
28:34people who are talented who have the
28:36ability to do this work who were just
28:37shut out and that's what kind of keeps
28:39me up at night so along those lines
28:42Susan I'm curious said if I if I were to
28:46be able to if I could grant you three
28:47wishes for the students in your program
28:50what would you how would you use those
28:53I'm probably gonna pick the three wrong
28:55things because this is off the top of my
28:58head but I'd like to have the facility
29:00to provide child care for young women
29:03who are young parents because I hear
29:05over and over how much the lack of
29:07stable child care interferes with
29:09internships and training programs in
29:11school that would be one thing - I'd
29:14like to see community colleges improve
29:17the kinds of certificate programs that
29:19they're doing so they're a lot more
29:20relevant so students who don't have the
29:24means right now is in their view to go
29:26to a four-year college can stack up
29:28certificates more quickly that are more
29:30relevant and I think a lot of them are
29:32not really current and in three I think
29:36I agree very much with what Laura said
29:38about how important relationships is
29:40showing what you care how much you care
29:43is so I would just like every student
29:45that I work with to have a mentor who is
29:48not only engaged with them at the moment
29:49but who helps introduce them to other
29:51people who really show them that yes
29:53they can belong intact and they have
29:56people want to help them get there Laura
29:58I'm curious by we're able to give you
30:01three wishes for the students and
30:03learners in your program how would you
30:05use them it's a great very hard question
30:13you know I I think about the focus of
30:18code 2040 and of our Fellows Program is
30:20career readiness and that last
30:22transition from education to employment
30:24so all of the students that have access
30:28to these amazing programs or don't but
30:31kind of come up and know that they're
30:32interested in tech how do we make sure
30:34that they actually get in the door at
30:36these companies and then succeed once
30:38they're in them and I think we're
30:42well equipped on that side when I think
30:44about kind of the wishes that I would
30:47have it's about continuing to broaden
30:50the pipeline of students that are in
30:52that last phase and ready to get an
30:55internship so some of what we're working
30:57on is how do you think about what makes
31:01you look like an attractive candidate
31:03you know going back to what Susan was
31:05saying before so much of hiring is
31:09referral based here and our social
31:12networks statistically speaking are
31:14pretty homogeneous there was a really
31:17amazing study published after Ferguson
31:20showing that white people social
31:22networks are 90 plus percent white and
31:24so you know if that's your social
31:27network that's when you get a job
31:28description in your inbox that's who
31:30you're going to for it it along too so
31:33thinking about how to create kind of
31:36structural ways to broaden that I would
31:40wish for the ability to do that work for
31:47the you know nearly 20% of computer
31:50science grads each year that are black
31:51or latino around the country which means
31:53creating those networks at HBCUs at
31:57state schools at community colleges
31:59which requires a lot of faculty
32:00relationships I'll spend my three wishes
32:03on relationships with colleges and
32:05universities amazing Irishman so you
32:15know all of our girls take your
32:16technical survey once they finish our
32:18program and like like a lot of the folks
32:21that seasonal or serve you know half our
32:23calls are from three reduced lunch
32:2580% minority and what's so incredible is
32:28that you know the median school and the
32:30Technical Services the equivalent of
32:32basically a college cs101 exam is an 89%
32:35and so when they're walking out of our
32:38classroom they're so confident and so we
32:41need so much in themselves and I want to
32:43make you know my gift to them is to have
32:46that really continue and to make sure
32:48that they are those two other them as we
32:51talk about their own struggles
32:53so powerful we have more of the
32:55craftsmanship you need to talk to about
32:56girls in New York and she did a totally
32:58awesome to talk about her own
33:00insecurities of her own struggles and
33:02like her journey and watching them look
33:05at more and see how this amazing woman
33:07who's also struggled and just like them
33:10you made them feel as they could do it
33:12too so you know really making sure that
33:14they continue their confidence and
33:16opposing themselves is very important
33:18you know the second thing is really
33:20opportunity you know a lot but my
33:23biggest fear in life is you have all
33:26these amazing Building Code program and
33:27then the various companies that we're
33:29partnering with don't actually go hire
33:31them you know so we need to make sure
33:34that you don't become on work as charity
33:36but speaking while work that's basically
33:38a pipeline of talent and that's the
33:41results of that are very evident you
33:44know very shortly and so you know I want
33:46to make sure that these girls are now
33:48have your actual opportunity to go work
33:51in these places and a lot of them at a
33:53certain point they're not going to
33:55Stanford or MIT to lachan afford it even
33:58if they could get it so you know I think
34:01you need to change what it means to
34:02quote the qualified in this industry and
34:05shrimpie like your educational
34:06background and so I think the Bachelor
34:08important lasting a communication you
34:11know so much you know I do this work not
34:14because of gender parity for the sake of
34:15gender parity because I truly believe
34:17that women over the create products and
34:19are going to change the world and our
34:20girls are undoing it and when I see the
34:23things that they've done like acts about
34:25health fight obesity or you know
34:27algorithms to help the attention with
34:29our cancer is benign or malignant or a
34:31game called tampon run that shoot stamp
34:33out that you sort of Gardens because you
34:35don't talk enough about menstruation
34:36with so many girls across the world out
34:39of school because of it you know that's
34:41why you need more women and people of
34:43color that access to technology because
34:45accessible skills because they're going
34:47to create the products that are going to
34:48make our community no world a better
34:50thank you so much that was powerful and
34:52wonderful and I have I'm just so glad to
34:57have been a part of this today and when
34:59we when I was researching the
35:01conversation when I was asked if I would
35:02talk with everyone today I thought I
35:04would love to but I'm not and
35:07here and so I don't know that I'm the
35:09right person to have this conversation
35:10and then in researching everyone's
35:12backgrounds I'd notice none of us are
35:15actually engineers but we're all in this
35:17together trying to create entry points
35:20for other people and I just want to
35:22thank you for your time today
35:24and I want to go do amazing things with
35:29all of you right now thank you
35:32sure Thanks thank you
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