Kimberly Bryant
*Kimberly Bryant was born on this date in 1967. She is a Black electrical engineer and an expert in biotechnology.
Bryant was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, by a single mother amidst the Civil Rights Movement. She is self-described as a "nerdy girl," excelling in mathematics and science in school. She earned a scholarship to attend Vanderbilt University in 1985, where she planned to become a civil engineer. Enticed by technologies such as the microchip, the personal computer, and the portable cellphone, she switched her major. She earned a degree in Electrical Engineering and a minor in Computer Science and Math.
Early in her career, Bryant held jobs at the electrical companies Westinghouse Electric and DuPont. Later, Bryant would move to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, where she worked at Pfizer, Merck, Genentech, and Novartis. Bryant founded Black Girls Code in 2011 after her daughter was interested in learning computer programming. They are a nonprofit organization that provides technology and computer programming education to African American girls. After founding Black Girls Code, Bryant was listed as one of the "25 Most Influential African-Americans In Technology" by Business Insider.
Bryant hopes this endeavor will allow young girls, especially those from minority populations, to remain involved in STEM and increase awareness. Black women make up less than 3% of the tech industry workforce, and the Black Girls Code fights to change and improve this percentage for the better. The organization has already trained 3,000 girls in seven chapters in cities in the United States. It has one chapter in Johannesburg, South Africa, with plans to add chapters in eight more cities. In August 2017, Bryant was involved in turning down a $125,000 donation by Uber, which she considered "disingenuous." The donation followed allegations of sexual harassment at Uber. In February 2018, Black Girls Code partnered with Uber's competitor, Lyft - as Bryant considered their values better aligned with hers.
Bryant is a thought leader around inclusion in the technology field and has spoken on the topic at events such as TedX Kansas City, TedX San Francisco, Platform Summit, Big Ideas Festival, and SXSW. Bryant serves on the National Champions Board for the National Girls Collaborative Project, a charitable organization whose vision is to unite organizations across the United States that are committed to informing and encouraging girls to pursue careers in STEM. She also serves on the board of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) K-12 Alliance, a group dedicated to creating access to inclusive computing education for girls everywhere. In 2012, Bryant received the Jefferson Award for Community Service for her work in supporting Bay Area communities with the Black Girls Code.
2013, Bryant was recognized as a White House Champion of Change for Tech Inclusion. That same year, she was voted one of the 25 Most Influential African Americans in Technology by Business Insider, awarded the Pahara-Aspen Education Fellowship, and named to The Root 100 and the Ebony Power 100 lists. 2014 Bryant received Smithsonian Magazine's American Ingenuity Award for Social Progress. She was also one of the POLITICO Women Who Rule Award winners. In 2019, Bryant was one of 65 finalists across 13 categories to present their projects at the 22nd annual Interactive Innovation Awards presented by KPMG. She was also presented with the SXSW Interactive Festival Hall of Fame award. Bryant was a keynote speaker at the 2021 SXSW EDU.
