Kimberly Bryant is a biotechnology industry veteran who has worked at Genentech, Novartis Vaccines, Diagnostics, and Merck. Bryant founded Black Girls Code, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating African-American girls about technology and computer programming, in 2011.
Bryant was named one of the “25 Most Influential African-Americans in Technology” after founding Black Girls Code by Business Insider.
Kimberly Bryant’s Life and Education
Kimberly Bryant was born and raised by a single mother in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 14, 1967, during the Civil Rights Movement. She described herself as a “nerdy girl” who excelled in math and science in school.
In 1985, she received a scholarship to Vanderbilt University, where she planned to study civil engineering. She switched majors in 1989, enticed by technologies such as the microchip, personal computer, and portable cellphone, and graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering and minors in Computer Science and math.
Kimberly Bryant’s Career
Bryant worked for Westinghouse Electric and DuPont in the early stages of her career. Bryant later transitioned to biotechnology and then pharmaceutical firms, working at Pfizer, Merck, Genentech, and Novartis.
After her daughter expressed interest in learning computer programming, Bryant founded Black Girls Code in 2011. She looked through the courses that were offered in the Bay area, but none were a good fit for her daughter.
They rarely had other African American girls in attendance and were frequently taken by boys. She wanted a better setting for her daughter because she had personally felt alone while studying and working. Bryant hopes that this initiative will encourage young girls, particularly those from underrepresented groups, to stay engaged in STEM and raise awareness of the field.
Black Girls Code works to change and raise the representation of African-American women in the tech industry, which is currently less than 3%.
In after-school and summer programs, Black Girls Code teaches computer programming to girls in school. By 2040, the nonprofit organization with headquarters in San Francisco hopes to have taught one million black girls how to code. In fifteen chapters spread across the United States and abroad, including one in Johannesburg, South Africa, the organization has already trained 3,000 girls.
Bryant is a thought leader in the field of inclusion in technology, and he has presented on the subject at conferences like SXSW, TedX Kansas City, and TedX San Francisco.
The Black Girls Code board of directors indefinitely placed Bryant on administrative paid leave on December 23, 2021, to look into “serious allegations of workplace impropriety” after three employees left in 2021 citing “cultural and interpersonal issues.” Bryant was formally terminated in August 2022.
She then filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that she had been suspended improperly and that board members with conflicts of interest were acting “selfishly.”
On August 22, Bryant was sued by Black Girls Code after she redirected the organization’s website to a separate page announcing her lawsuit.
Kimberly Bryant’s Recognitions
Bryant’s work with Black Girls Code to support Bay Area communities earned her the prestigious Jefferson Award for Community Service in 2012.
As a White House Champion of Change for Tech Inclusion in 2013, Bryant received recognition. The same year, she received the Pahara-Aspen Education Fellowship, was included on The Root 100 and the Ebony Power 100 lists, and was chosen by Business Insider as one of the 25 Most Influential African-Americans in Technology.
Bryant received the 2014 American Ingenuity Award for Social Progress from Smithsonian Magazine. She was a recipient of the POLITICO Women Who Rule Award as well.
Bryant presented his projects as one of 65 finalists from 13 categories at the 22nd KPMG Interactive Innovation Awards in 2019. The SXSW Interactive Festival Hall of Fame award was also given to her.
