Black Girls Code’s New Initiative Aims To Launch One Million Women Of Color Into Tech Careers | Essence

Despite Black women making great progress within the tech space in recent years, they still make up just 3% of the tech workforce and even less in Silicon Valley leadership—less than 5%.

Nonprofit Black Girls Code aims to change that.

It recently joined forces tech software company ServiceNow to launch a three-year initiative aimed at creating new career pathways for New York’s workforce. 

“Black Girls Code is on a mission to launch one million women of color into tech careers,” said Cristina Jones, CEO of Black Girls Code in a news release. “Our partnership with ServiceNow is a strong start to reaching that goal.” Black Girls Code serves girls as young as age 7, and recently expanded its focus to serve young women up to age 25. “Once we’ve sparked their curiosity as youngsters, we want to stay with them all the way through to adulthood and help them get started in their careers. This is so important because tech is at the center of everything we do, and Black girls absolutely have a lot to offer as the next generation of leaders.”

Karen Pavlin, Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer at ServiceNow also spoke to the importance of fostering the next generation of tech leaders.

The free, 10-week training course (20-25 hours weekly) offers live sessions 6:30-8:30 pm across all U.S. time zones. It will prepare participants for various tech-based positions including analyst, developer and implementor roles. Those who are 18+ years old, Black or another race underrepresented in tech, identify as female or gender-expansive and interested in starting or shifting into a tech career are invited to apply.

“The demand is surging for ServiceNow skills, bringing excellent career opportunities for New York’s tech talent, and our partners on the ground bring direct connections to talent right here in New York,” said Pavlin in a news release. “We are proud to count Black Girls Code among our RiseUp with ServiceNow partners, and we are excited to unlock the potential of the talent they serve, together.”

More information the program and how to apply here.