Kimberly Bryant Quotes

Powerful Kimberly Bryant for Daily Growth

About Kimberly Bryant

Kimberly Bryant is an American engineer, entrepreneur, and founder of Black Girls CODE (BGC), a non-profit organization that aims to introduce girls of color (ages 7 to 17) to the field of technology and computer programming. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Bryant earned her Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from Tennessee State University and Master of Electrical Engineering from Howard University. Bryant's professional career spans over two decades in various engineering roles within the biotechnology and electronics industries. She has worked for several renowned companies such as Biogen, Genentech, and Silicon Graphics Inc., contributing to groundbreaking research in biotechnology and developing advanced technologies in the field of computer graphics. Bryant's passion for technology education led her to found Black Girls CODE in 2011. The organization provides girls with the skills they need to become programmers, web developers, and digital creators through workshops, after-school programs, and summer camps. Black Girls CODE has chapters across the United States and internationally, impacting thousands of young women and inspiring them to pursue careers in technology. Bryant's work with Black Girls CODE has earned her numerous awards, including being named one of TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2013. Her life and work serve as an inspiration for many, highlighting the importance of diversity in the technology industry and empowering young women of color to pursue their dreams in the field. Bryant continues her advocacy efforts, using her platform to encourage more girls to embrace STEM education and join the growing tech community.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"If you can't see it, be it."

This quote by Kimberly Bryant encourages individuals to pursue opportunities or dreams that may not appear immediately visible or accessible in their current environment. It suggests that if one cannot find a role model or example of something they aspire to become or achieve, they should strive to create it themselves. In essence, the quote is about breaking barriers and creating paths where none exist, by having the courage to 'be' what one aspires to, even when it seems unattainable.

"Encourage and empower girls to pursue careers in tech."

This quote by Kimberly Bryant underscores the importance of fostering an inclusive environment within the tech industry, particularly for young women. The encouragement and empowerment she speaks of involve providing opportunities, resources, and support that motivate girls to explore careers in technology. This not only broadens the talent pool in the tech sector but also promotes gender equality, ensuring that diverse perspectives are represented and driving innovation forward.

"Diversity is not just about being in the room, it's also about having a voice."

The quote emphasizes that diversity is more than mere representation; it encompasses ensuring everyone has an opportunity to express their ideas, perspectives, and experiences. Having a variety of voices in a room fosters a richer dialogue, encourages innovative thinking, and promotes a more inclusive environment where all individuals can be heard and valued.

"We need to redefine what success looks like."

Kimberly Bryant's quote encourages a shift in societal norms regarding what constitutes success. Traditionally, success has often been associated with wealth, power, or fame, but Bryant suggests we should broaden our definition to encompass more inclusive and diverse measures of achievement. This could include personal growth, community impact, or promoting social justice, among other things. By redefining success in a way that values all voices, we can create a more equitable and fulfilling society where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive.

"The best way to predict your future is to create it."

This quote, attributed to Kimberly Bryant, emphasizes the power of personal agency in shaping one's own destiny. It suggests that rather than passively awaiting what life may bring, we have the ability to actively influence our future by taking control, making informed decisions, and working towards our goals. In essence, it encourages individuals to take responsibility for their own growth, success, and happiness by being proactive and creating opportunities for themselves.

Few of my classmates looked like me. While we shared similar aspirations and many good times, there's much to be said for making any challenging journey with people of the same cultural background.

- Kimberly Bryant

Good, Shared, While, Cultural

We're creating this new breed of techies who are going to be the ones starting the tech companies of the future.

- Kimberly Bryant

New, Going, Tech, Breed

It's always been my dream to be an attorney, and I'm that weird breed of human being that loves being in a courtroom.

- Kimberly Bryant

Always, Human Being, Been, Breed

Women and girls are naturally agents of change. If we teach one girl to code, she will go on to teach more - we've seen this in our own programs and workshops around the country.

- Kimberly Bryant

Country, Own, Code, Women And Girls

I'm horrendous at capturing a decent selfie.

- Kimberly Bryant

Decent, Horrendous, Capturing

I had been tracked from grades 1 through 12 in an accelerated program in the public school system in Memphis and had done well in math and science classes. When I was getting ready for college, my guidance counselors suggested I look into engineering.

- Kimberly Bryant

College, Through, Been, Suggested

It's critical for girls to see role models like myself that are in technical fields. Looking for ways to come in as speakers or do a career day, or just find a way to connect with students or invite students to their workplaces to shadow them for the day... is critically important.

- Kimberly Bryant

Career, Role, Critical, Critically

As the coding movement continues to grow, the common narrative of the white male geek as the predominant influencer on geek culture will erode.

- Kimberly Bryant

Grow, Will, Predominant, Coding

Gender is not central to coding.

- Kimberly Bryant

Gender, Central, Coding

Our camps and workshops offer a space where girls of color can learn computer science and coding principles alongside their peers, with mentorship from female role models who have established themselves in tech fields where women, and minority women in particular, tend to be underrepresented.

- Kimberly Bryant

Color, Role, Peers, Coding

I believe it is incredibly important for women and people of color to become the builders and creators in technology. In order to do so, we need to know how to code or, at least, know the language of coding - what I like to call 'code speak.'

- Kimberly Bryant

Color, Builders, Code, Coding

I definitely think there needs to be more of a focus and movement on getting coding taught in schools. There's really only so much after-school programs like Black Girls Code can do to really drive that change. And those classes shouldn't only take place in high school. We should make sure that we teach kids about coding at an early age.

- Kimberly Bryant

Code, About, Classes, Coding

We need to have women as role models, both inside and outside corporate America's leading tech companies, leading the path for other women.

- Kimberly Bryant

Other, Tech, Models, Tech Companies

Some of the perceptions from my professors were that I was less than or that I wouldn't be able to compete or wouldn't be able to meet the same bar as my peers. I don't want that for my daughter or for any of the girls who come into our program.

- Kimberly Bryant

Some, Compete, Peers, Perceptions

I do believe that most startups who develop applications and digital products design 'towards the middle.' By this, I mean they design their products to reach the broadest consumer base possible, which is a sound strategy in some respects.

- Kimberly Bryant

Reach, Sound, Some, Startups

While there is still certainly much more work that needs to be done, Lyft actually believes in increasing diversity and inclusion within their workforce, and also, they believe in being a strong supporter of that in the community.

- Kimberly Bryant

Needs, Still, Certainly, Workforce

While there should be collective efforts to increase tech inclusion overall, the industry must work to specifically attract and retain women of color.

- Kimberly Bryant

Work, Color, Tech, Specifically

If I understood the great opportunities that are available to women and underrepresented minorities in the field of tech I would have made the transition from traditional engineering to the technology field much earlier in my career.

- Kimberly Bryant

Career, Minorities, Tech, Understood

I think my biggest mistake was deciding not to go to law school directly after I graduated from college.

- Kimberly Bryant

College, Mistake, Think, Law School

We want to see companies making a good faith effort and putting some tangible initiatives behind their pledge for diversity.

- Kimberly Bryant

Behind, Some, Making, Pledge

If technology is designed mostly by white males, who make up roughly half our population, we're missing out on the innovation, solutions, and creativity that a broader pool of talent can bring to the table.

- Kimberly Bryant

Bring, Mostly, Half, Roughly

I did not grow up around computers, so technology was not a tool used every day in my household. I was drawn to computer science due to the creative nature of programming and the technology focus.

- Kimberly Bryant

Focus, Every Day, Used, Programming

By reaching out to the community through workshops, hackathons, and after-school programs, Black Girls Code introduces computer programming and technology to girls from underrepresented communities.

- Kimberly Bryant

Black, Through, Code, Programming

My first introduction to computers and computer programming came during my freshman year of college. I majored in electrical engineering with a minor in computer science, so I learned during my required courses at Vanderbilt University.

- Kimberly Bryant

College, Year, Minor, Programming

We are not generally included in that narrative - people of color - definitely, women of color don't normally fit that narrative that has been built around the whole image and the whole story of the Silicon Valley.

- Kimberly Bryant

Color, Image, Been, Normally

You cannot possibly be reaching the needs of your consumers when the makeup of your company is not reflective of the community you serve.

- Kimberly Bryant

Makeup, Needs, Reaching, Possibly

I was doing a lot of networking in the Valley, and I found that it was not a very diverse environment, and most of the conferences and meetup events I went to, there weren't many women or people of color in those rooms.

- Kimberly Bryant

Doing, Very, Rooms, Conferences

When I started Black Girls Code in 2011, there weren't any programs that had a foundation in communities of color to teach our kids about technology.

- Kimberly Bryant

Color, Teach, Code, Communities

We want to create a community of girls who will be empowered to become catalysts for transformation in their communities.

- Kimberly Bryant

Create, Want, Will, Communities

We need to really focus on getting this digital equity across the board in all of our public school systems, for both girls and boys.

- Kimberly Bryant

Digital, Need, Public School, Board

Technology is a ubiquitous part of our everyday lives, and the accompanying geeky lexicon has infiltrated every facet of our modern day society.

- Kimberly Bryant

Everyday Lives, Ubiquitous, Everyday

I loved school, was an exceptional student, and found a passion for math and science that led me to Vanderbilt University, where I discovered the world of electrical engineering. I did well in college, loved the work I was doing, and soon found myself climbing the corporate ladder after graduation. I was one of the lucky ones.

- Kimberly Bryant

College, Lucky, Discovered, Climbing

For me, as a woman in one of the less diverse fields - electrical engineering, which is what I studied in college - it was hard to persist and really build a career. Some of the things I experienced were really scary, and they weren't experiences that I wanted for my daughter.

- Kimberly Bryant

College, Career, Some, Diverse

I don't think quotas are necessarily an evil. I think when we look at industry in general back to the '60s and the '50s, the way more diverse people like my dad and mom's generation were able to break into industry was because of affirmation action, because of quotas.

- Kimberly Bryant

Back, I Think, Dad, Diverse

If people are not tied to the work from a mission-driven focus, I don't think you're going to motivate them.

- Kimberly Bryant

Think, Going, Tied, Motivate

I didn't want my daughter to feel culturally isolated in the pursuit of her studies as I had as a young girl. I didn't want her to give up on her passions just because she didn't see anyone else like her in the classroom.

- Kimberly Bryant

Young, Pursuit, Young Girl, Passions

I hope to literally change the world with Black Girls Code by changing the paradigm which produces the current monolithic ecosystem in technology.

- Kimberly Bryant

Code, Ecosystem, Which, Change The World

We like to say we hope to be like the Girl Scouts of technology, having many different chapters in many different states as well as many different countries.

- Kimberly Bryant

Like, Chapters, Having, Scouts

One of the biggest lessons that we hope to model for several folks, including some of the young women of color who come to me, is the value of understanding your worth, standing up, and demanding the best for yourself and not taking less.

- Kimberly Bryant

Color, Young, Some, Lessons

Women are both talented and innovative thinkers and tend to use computer science as a tool to solve larger problems.

- Kimberly Bryant

Use, Thinkers, Larger, Women Are

We really pride ourselves on the notion that what makes our program special is that we really do our very best to make sure that everything we do is culturally responsive and relevant.

- Kimberly Bryant

Sure, Very, Makes, Responsive

I had originally wanted to be a lawyer. Even when I went to college and majored in engineering, I still thought I'd get a law degree. Then I started taking electrical engineering classes where I saw some of the innovation happening around computers and solid-state technology in the mid '80s.

- Kimberly Bryant

College, Thought, Some, Lawyer

When you've already experienced great challenges in your career, it gives minor setbacks a different perspective.

- Kimberly Bryant

Challenges, Career, Minor, Experienced

The images you see in media are vital to impacting not just what the world sees in terms of who can be a computer scientist, who can be techie, who can be a geek or who can be a creator; it also impacts the girls and what they internalize.

- Kimberly Bryant

Creator, Scientist, Images, Impacts

For me, if a company is really committed to diversity, that means everything. That means gender diversity, that means sexual orientation for me, that means race, ethnicity.

- Kimberly Bryant

Gender, Committed, Means, Sexual

As a little girl growing up in the Deep South, my mother told me that my future lay in my education. And she was right.

- Kimberly Bryant

Education, Deep, South, Little Girl

I grew up in a close-knit community where I was expected to excel, and it was a different experience when I got to the university. There were very few students of color, and those numbers were extremely low in the school of engineering.

- Kimberly Bryant

Color, University, Very, Excel

Although we use a lot of technology and consume a lot of technology as people of color, we're usually not the ones at the tables doing the creating of it.

- Kimberly Bryant

Color, Doing, Use, Tables

Jobs in technology have the rapidest rate of growth. The need for computer science is so incredibly large, and it's important that girls of all colors have the opportunity to move into that field.

- Kimberly Bryant

Need, Move, Large, Computer Science

Technology can be biased in how it's developed if coders aren't careful. There are apps that are clearly made by companies with no people of color on their team.

- Kimberly Bryant

Color, Made, Careful, Biased

We understand bringing girls into the tech space is about giving them skills to create social impact and change in their community.

- Kimberly Bryant

Change, Social, Tech, Impact

We want to teach girls of color the skills they need and create a diversity of voices into the tech community.

- Kimberly Bryant

Diversity, Color, Skills, Tech

Our goal is to really have young women of color embrace the tech marketplace and the tech innovation space as both leaders and creators.

- Kimberly Bryant

Innovation, Young Women, Tech

You can absolutely be what you can't see! That's what innovators and disruptors do.

- Kimberly Bryant

You, See, Innovators, Absolutely

I think that if companies build for diversity from the beginning from the ground up, that's definitely the ideal state for how to build diversity into your company.

- Kimberly Bryant

Think, I Think, Ideal, Ground

I don't think that the trickle-down theory of diversity ever really works.

- Kimberly Bryant

Diversity, Think, Ever, Theory

Girls are almost always socialized to be perfect: 'Smile, do well in school, don't take too many risks.'

- Kimberly Bryant

Perfect, Always, Almost, Socialized

Girls who participate in Black Girls Code think of themselves as leaders.

- Kimberly Bryant

Think, Themselves, Code, Participate

I'm looking to see more women of color not only in companies in technology, but also creating companies.

- Kimberly Bryant

See, More, Companies, Color

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