Girls Who Code is a student organization that strives to provide female and non-binary students at the University of Michigan with the space and support need to succeed in computer science and technology. We believe that it is essential to make computer science accessible to underrepresented students on campus and members of the wider Ann Arbor community, so we offer professional development workshops, study groups, coding lessons, and social events that foster positive community culture.
A project grant from the Barger Leadership Institute supported our external outreach workshops and internal community-building events. With these funds, we facilitated a web development workshop for female Ann Arbor high school students, covered the costs for our members’ skating social event at Yost, and hosted a finals study event filled with food, snacks, supplies, and self-care activities in recognition of the work done by our amazing members!
The BLI habits we employed the most were Build A Team and Expect Challenge. For many of our members, our outreach event was their first time facilitating a workshop, so we were eager to support them, and we made sure that they understood that mistakes were inevitable and normal components of the teaching process. Our organization is also fairly new to Michigan, so we are eager to continue collaborating with and understanding one another until we create a solid vision for how the organization can fulfill the needs of underrepresented students interested in computer science and technology.
By Marivi Sifuentes
