The archive · Education & Work · Financial decision · 2011–2012
BlackGirlsCode raises $21K on IndieGoGo for nationwide coding classes for girls of color
Kimberly Bryant's two-year-old BlackGirlsCode crowdfunded $21,000 to run Summer of Code workshops in eight US cities after its classes kept selling out.
BlackGirlsCode
What the business is
BlackGirlsCode was a nonprofit organization teaching girls aged 7 to 17 to code through hands-on workshops, Summer of Code programs and robotics camps in cities across the United States.
Starting capital：$21,000 raised on IndieGoGo in mid-2012
How it started
Founder Kimberly Bryant, an electrical engineer who had felt isolated in her own computer science classes, started BlackGirlsCode in 2011 and framed the mission around Douglas Rushkoff's line 'Program or be programmed.' Her organization cited a pipeline problem: African American women made up 4.8 percent of graduate enrollment in computer science, and only 0.03 percent of female Hispanic freshmen intended to major in computer science in 2006.
What happened
In 2012 BlackGirlsCode's Summer of Code workshops ran from June to September across San Francisco, Oakland, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, serving 200 to 300 girls. Over 90 students attended the June 30 workshop at DeVry University in Oakland, the follow-up San Francisco class sold out in one week, and Bryant said parents were planning weekend trips from as far as Los Angeles. A $21,000 IndieGoGo campaign was set to buy 15 laptops to loan attendees, send 20 girls to the August Robotics Summer Camp and pay teacher and TA stipends.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
BlackGirlsCode was Kimberly Bryant's answer to a pipeline problem she had lived herself: as a student in computer science classes, she felt isolated, and the numbers said little had changed — African American women made up 4.8 percent of graduate enrollment in computer science, while only 0.03 percent of female Hispanic freshmen intended to major in it in 2006. The organization, in its second year in 2012, taught girls between the ages of 7 and 17 to code, with Bryant quoting Douglas Rushkoff: 'Program or be programmed.'
Demand arrived faster than capacity. The Summer of Code program ran from June to September 2012 in San Francisco, Oakland, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Los Angeles and was set to serve 200 to 300 girls. Over 90 students attended the June 30 workshop at DeVry University in Oakland, the San Francisco follow-up sold out within a week, and parents contacted Bryant from as far away as Los Angeles planning weekend trips so their daughters could attend.
To fund the expansion, BlackGirlsCode raised $21,000 on IndieGoGo, which Bryant planned to spend on 15 laptops to loan to attendees, scholarships sending 20 girls to the August Robotics Summer Camp, and stipends for teachers and teaching assistants. Techli reported the raise on 2012-07-18, and the story drew 101 points and 161 comments on Hacker News the same day.
What has to be true
- The unmet need was quantified: BlackGirlsCode cited 4.8 percent graduate enrollment for African American women in computer science and 0.03 percent for Hispanic female freshmen.
- Workshop demand was concrete and current: over 90 students at the Oakland session, a San Francisco class sold out in one week, and inquiries from Los Angeles and other cities.
- Crowdfunding fit the nonprofit's stage: $21,000 bought laptops, camp scholarships and teacher stipends without requiring institutional grant cycles.
- Bryant's own experience of isolation in computer science supplied the conviction to start in 2011 and scale city by city in 2012.
What can be applied
When the audience has been written off, sell the proof before the pitch: sold-out classes and waiting lists raised $21,000 for BlackGirlsCode where demographic arguments alone would not have.
Aftermath
As of 2012-07-18 BlackGirlsCode was in its second year, running Summer of Code workshops in eight US cities through September 2012 and using its $21,000 IndieGoGo raise to buy laptops, fund robotics-camp scholarships and pay teacher and TA stipends. What the organization grew into after that summer is beyond this batch's sources.
Sources
- BlackGirlsCode Raises $21,000 To Fund Summer Of Code Program In Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis and More
- HN discussion: BlackGirlsCode raises $21,000
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