Girls Who Code is a non-profit organization aimed at providing women with computer and technology skills to encourage growth in female-held science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) jobs founded in 2012 by failed Democratic politician and one-time deputy to Bill de Blasio in the New York City Public Advocate’s Office Reshma Saujani. ¹

The group offers a seven-week summer immersion program and shorter programs for girls and women in grade school some exceptions for those in college or university. The organization conducts some policy advocacy, such as an event in which Girls Who Code hosted congressional leadership to discuss policy solutions to a perceived “gender gap” in tech. ²

History

Reshma Soujani founded Girls Who Code in 2012 after an unsuccessful attempt to challenge U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) in a 2010 primary election. Soujani, a Democratic Party activist who had supported the 2004 Presidential campaign of John Kerry and the 2008 campaign of Hillary Clinton, raised over $1 million, largely from Wall Street and technology industry interests;³ she lost to Maloney by a 60-point margin. ⁴

Girls Who Code is currently a multinational organization with clubs across the globe. According to the group’s 2018 annual report, it has reached about 100,000,000 and served 180,000 to date. ⁵

Current Activities

Girls Who Code currently offers a seven-week immersion program for women and girls offering coding and various computer science and technology trainings to help them start on a path to a job in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics field work. The group offers two-week programs and online and mobile app courses that aim at the same goals. The programs are largely directed towards girls in K-12, but there are some college and university-level programs for women. ⁶

The biggest donors to the programs include Adobe, AT&T, Uber, and Walmart, all of which gave over $1,000,000 in donations. ⁷

In January 2021, Girls Who Code CEO Reshma Saujani led a group of 50 women calling on President Joe Biden to implement a Marshall Plan for moms in his first 100 days in office. The signees included actresses Amy Schumer, Eva Longoria, Gabrielle Union, and Julianne Moore. The group ran a full-page advertisement in the New York Times which drew attention to the number of women forced out of work during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling it a “national crisis” and writing to the new administration “You didn’t create the problem, but your administration has an opportunity to fix it.” ⁸

Leadership

CEO Reshma Saujani is also the founder of the organization. A graduate from Harvard (Bachelor’s) and Yale Law School, she was a lawyer heavily involved in politics; she created the East Asians for Kerry funding group in in support of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004.

In 2010 she ran in the Democratic primary against incumbent Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY); she has claimed to have been inspired to run after watching Hillary Clinton concede the Democratic nomination contest to then-Senator Barack Obama in 2008. ⁹ Saujani lost despite heavy spending during the campaign. She lost a second campaign, this time for New York City Public Advocate, in 2013. ¹⁰

She is married to Nihal Mehta, a co-founding general partner of Eniac Ventures, a large capital investment firm. ^{11 12}

1. Bragg, Chris. “Saujani’s Campaign Wipes Hedge Fund History from Her Wiki Page.” Crain’s New York Business, February 6, 2013. https://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20130206/BLOGS04/302069997/saujani-s-campaign-wipes-hedge-fund-history-from-her-wiki-page.
2. “About: Reshma Saujani.” Reshma Saujani -. Accessed October 7, 2019. https://reshmasaujani.com/about/.
3. Atik, Chiara. “NY Tech Scene Gets Political With Cocktail Benefit For Reshma Saujani.” Guest of a Guest, January 14, 2010. https://guestofaguest.com/events/parties/ny-tech-scene-gets-political-with-cocktail-benefit-for-reshma-saujani.
4. “New York 14th District Profile.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 2010. https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2010/house/new-york/14.html.
5. “Girls Who Code: Annual Report 2018.” Girls Who Code – Annual Report 2018. Accessed October 7, 2019. https://girlswhocode.com/2018report/.
6. “About Us – Girls Who Code.” girlswhocode. Accessed October 7, 2019. https://girlswhocode.com/about-us/.
7. “Girls Who Code: Annual Report 2018.” Girls Who Code – Annual Report 2018. Accessed October 7, 2019. https://girlswhocode.com/2018report/.
8. Code, Girls Who. 50 Prominent Women Run Full Page Ad in The New York Times Calling on President Biden to Implement Marshall Plan for Moms in First 100 Days, January 26, 2021. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/50-prominent-women-run-full-page-ad-in-the-new-york-times-calling-on-president-biden-to-implement-marshall-plan-for-moms-in-first-100-days-301214913.html.
9. Haniffa, Aziz. “Reshma’s Code: Defeat in 2010 Congressional Primary Led to Her Computing Startup.” IndiaAbroad.com, September 28, 2018. https://www.indiaabroad.com/indian-americans/reshma-s-code-defeat-in-congressional-primary-led-to-her/article_3b157c92-c389-11e8-a1ff-2b2e57fca12b.html.
10. Bragg, Chris. “Saujani’s Campaign Wipes Hedge Fund History from Her Wiki Page.” Crain’s New York Business, February 6, 2013. https://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20130206/BLOGS04/302069997/saujani-s-campaign-wipes-hedge-fund-history-from-her-wiki-page.
11. “About: Reshma Saujani.” Reshma Saujani -. Accessed October 7, 2019. https://reshmasaujani.com/about/.
12. “Girls Who Code: Annual Report 2018.” Girls Who Code – Annual Report 2018. Accessed October 7, 2019. https://girlswhocode.com/2018report/.