Enabling the next generation of developers: Six years of partnering with Girls Who Code

BlackRock Co-Sponsors of our Girls Who Code partnership speak with BlackRock volunteers about their experience working with the students each summer.

By: Alexis McKeown, BlackRock Digital Workplace lead & Girls Who Code Co-Sponsor for SF

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Neeraj Goel, BlackRock Engineering lead for Aladdin & Girls Who Code Co-Sponsor for SF

At BlackRock we are encouraged, enabled and recognized for social impact contributions including volunteering, donations, and grants. BlackRock’s social impact mission is to help more and more people, beyond the reach of BlackRock’s core business, achieve financial security and participate in sustainable prosperity.

In the technology organizations across BlackRock, we are also enabled to take this a step further, and work with non-profit organizations that are accelerating impact through technology. With a technical skillset, we have a responsibility to share our knowledge and help build the next generation of engineers.

Our social impact work in the tech space includes a number of partnerships we have with organizations across the globe such as the tech non-profit accelerator, Fast Forward, Big City Bright Future in London and of course, Girls Who Code.

Today, we are interviewing a few of our colleagues’ who work on our Girls Who Code partnership. Each summer, BlackRock hosts a Girls Who Code class in our NYC office and San Francisco office. For 2020, and now 2021, we have hosted these classes virtually.

Girls Who Code is a nonprofit organization which aims to support and increase the number of women in computer science by equipping young women with the necessary computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities.

Rebecca, you were a teacher first for Girls Who Code before you even started working at BlackRock. What keeps you volunteering each year?

I was drawn to Girls Who Code (GWC) in 2016 because I was looking for a summer job in between my sophomore and junior year of college. I never imagined that a summer job would change my life, or that I would still be involved with GWC six years later. I am dedicated to the partnership we have with GWC because I care for, admire, and believe in all the students who go through this journey (even those we haven’t met yet!)

Rebecca Jellinek, Girls Who Code Partner Point of Contact & Program Lead in New York. Rebecca also wrote this blog post a few years back about her experience from GWC to BlackRock.

-Rebecca Jellinek, Program Lead in NY

Maya, as a mentor for Girls Who Code what is your advice to students wanting to break into the tech industry?

Entering the tech industry can seem really daunting, and I think a lot of people struggle with imposter syndrome — I definitely did, and sometimes still do. Just taking the first step to familiarize yourself with technology, to learn a little about the industry, and to practice working together on projects can be all somebody needs to get started on launching their new journey. I think Girls Who Code provides a really unique opportunity for high schoolers to overcome some of those perceived barriers to entry into tech, and on my end, it’s a super fun way to meet new people at the firm and contribute to the growing community of women in tech.

-Maya Ram, BlackRock Mentor

Ka Ki, as a former student of Girls Who Code yourself what was the most valuable element that you learned?

I was in the program myself six years ago, and my experience there played a key part in developing my interest in a career in technology. This program opened my eyes to the different career paths in the technology industry, helped me develop basic programming skills, and more importantly, introduced me to a network of mentors and peers with similar interests whom I still keep in touch with to this day and that has helped me tremendously throughout my college and professional career.

-Ka Ki Fung, BlackRock Mentor

Reshma, as a mentor, what does Girls Who Code mean to you and why do you keep volunteering? Bhatia, BLK Mentor:

Being a technical developer has changed my life. It has become an integral part who I am, and I sometimes question why I wasn’t introduced to it early in my life. I volunteered with Girls Who Code to meet those younger versions of myself and get them introduced to different options in tech at an early stage. My message to young students out there is the same: it doesn’t matter if the effort is big or small, it’s starting that is important.

-Reshma Bhatia, BlackRock Mentor

As the BlackRock sponsors for Girls Who Code we are so proud to support such an inspiring organization. Our partnership with Girls Who Code goes beyond volunteer hours. As you can see from the conversations with our colleagues, Girls Who Code means a lot to our employees as does empowering women and diverse students to break into the tech industry.

Alexis McKeown, BlackRock Digital Workplace lead & Girls Who Code Co-Sponsor for SF

It is meaningful to me because as a woman in tech, I so wish I had a program like that when I was younger. Not only the camaraderie and the sisterhood that is created by this program but also the skills are invaluable and really give the young women going through the program a leg up. As a hiring manager who struggles to find female talent, I am so excited about the pipeline of incredibly diverse and talented women this program is creating.

Neeraj Goel, BlackRock Engineering lead for Aladdin & Girls Who Code Co-Sponsor for SF

Gender diversity is a big issue in the technical field. I have first-hand experience working in a team where the gender diversity made a huge difference in brining different ideas, bringing the team together, and building a high impact team. It was especially visible since my team went to start from no gender diversity and I could see the change of how we operated and how we got better as a team. We cannot solve the diversity problem by hiring if we do not have diverse candidates to hire. Girls Who Code helps us build the diversity pipeline by giving exposure and hands-on experience with girls at the high school level. It’s critical for the girls to get excited at this early stage so they can eliminate the diversity problem we have in the engineering field. I’m grateful to be associated with the GWC program and proud of BlackRock to support the GWC. I’m also thankful to so many of my colleagues who help us with the growing the diversity in the tech field.

Learn more about Social Impact at BlackRock and Girls Who Code.