Through the Capital One Coders program, girls can gain early access to computer science education which can directly inspire their confidence levels and interest in computer science.
In fact, a report says that Black and Hispanic students who take computer science classes before college are seven times more likely to major in computer science.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Meeks Gombe helped to develop a virtual curriculum that included breakout rooms with custom games and quizzes. Meeks Gombe, a leading teacher at Girls For A Change is making a lasting impact on the lives of her students through her role as a Black technologist leader and teacher.
“Just having girls see the variety of career opportunities led by people who look like them opens up that possibility. There’s a connection made when girls see me in a role that they don’t usually associate themselves with. I can’t reach every girl, but I want them to know that they can do this,” Meeks Gombe stated.
Maureen Jules-Perez, Capital One Vice President for HR Technology, echoed Meeks-Gombe’s view. For Jules-Perez, who served on the organization’s board for a few years before becoming the new Board Chair of Girl’s For a Change this year, the mission of the nonprofit parallels her motto of “Tech For Good” which uses tech to improve social, environmental, and economic outcomes. Long-term programs offered by the organization give girls the chance to become entrepreneurs, artists, and technologists.
“I came from a similar background so I feel like I’m one of those girls,” said Jules-Perez. “I know what it’s like to have someone champion you, but also the opposite feeling of knowing someone who doesn’t think you’re worthy. I’m haunted by the thought that there’s a Black girl or a person of color who doesn’t feel seen or doesn’t think the world wants them. Girls For A Change prepares Black girls for the world.”
Angela Patton, Girls For A Change CEO, is committed to helping girls realize their potential as future technologists. She also works hard on her action-oriented vision for Central Virginia’s girls.
Her focus is particularly on what she calls “at-promise” youth who have natural gifts and innate potential where their circumstances don’t define their identities. For more than a decade, Patton has supported at-promise girls with incarcerated fathers through Dance With Dad, a rehabilitation program founded by a group of young girls who wanted to invite their jailed fathers into their lives on their own terms and define their futures.
Patton said that the girls wrote to a sheriff asking for permission to dance with their fathers while they were in jail. Since the program’s inception, no father has been reincarcerated.
“We’re teaching girls to elevate their voices,” Patton said. “We want them to experience the moment where they feel ownership and empowerment so that they can change their own lives.”
Capital One has been a partner of Girls For A Change since 2017, allowing girls to have career and life opportunities that they may not otherwise have.
Capital One has supported 15 different programs in Girls for a Change program since the partnership started. Capital One Tech supported seven of these programs through Capital One Coders camps. In addition, nearly 80 Capital One Tech associates helped Girls For A Change girls in the past few decades through these programs.
“For some of the girls aging out of the Girls For A Change program, they had a chance to do mock interviews with Capital One associates and get feedback for entry-level positions,” Patton. “I love that I have resources to point my girls to so that they can have a chance at better outcomes.”