Student Spotlight: Tonka
Tonka is just the kind of person who puts her mind to something and persists until she succeeds.
“I’ve always had persistence,” said Tonka, who drove solo across the country from Central Pennsylvania to make a new life here in the Bay Area. “But you need both persistence and confidence.”
Her power combo of determination and resilience has allowed her to reinvent herself again and again over the years. She’s taken on everything from professional cheerleading to earning a degree in public policy and a Masters in Public Administration, with a nonprofit focus. Her latest reinvention: pursuing a long-held interest in computer engineering.
I like to understand how stuff works. I think that’s going to be an advantage for me.
“I was always a ‘why’ person — I like to understand how stuff works. I think that’s going to be an advantage for me,” she said. “I’ll ask the question everyone else wants to ask but is afraid to ask.”
Growing up with a father who’s a computer engineer, her programming interest took hold in high school — but she didn’t feel like she had the necessary support, both as a woman and person of color. She still sees the race and gender gaps as very real challenges, even today.
“I’m very concerned that there’s not a lot of diversity in tech,” said Tonka, who also works with middle school girls on STEM skills. “That’s an issue in the nonprofit sector too. Many nonprofits don’t have diverse boards. If you only deal with the people in your circle, how does anything change?
“It’s harder for you if you’re very homogeneous to develop products for other communities, because you don’t have that perspective. You haven’t even thought about the possibilities, because it’s outside your reality.”
Tonka knows her organizational development skills will be an asset at tech companies striving to change their culture to attract and retain diverse talent. She also sees a huge opportunity to help bridge the gap between nonprofits that need more technical expertise and the giving capacity of tech companies. And as a Techtonica student, she’s thrilled that now is the right time for her to pursue the skills she needs to personally expand diversity in tech.
“I’m determined that I’m going to do this,” she said, recounting her determination to thrive on the day of interviews, even when she was fighting a fever of 102. “There are just so many possibilities for me.”
Watch Tonka’s talk from our Sponsor Info Event:
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