A Growing Community for Women in Tech

As the Interactive Director at GravityFree and the only female on the production team, I’ve been wanting to find a way to get more ladies in the tech industry. As a self-taught coder with a formal education in design and art, I am passionate about showing other women how much fun and how rewarding writing code can be. When I learned that a group of women were getting together late last year to start a group called Girl Develop It here in the Tampa Bay area, I jumped at the chance to get help get it off the ground. I am now a chapter leader and an instructor for our local group.

Girl Develop It is a non-profit organization that provides affordable and judgement-free classes and workshops for women who are interested in learning web and software development. We offer support, help build confidence, and teach women of diverse backgrounds something they can use to change careers or start a new path in life.

Teaching women how to write code is an incredible feeling of accomplishment, not only for me, but for the women themselves. A lot of them have been too intimidated to try it or something got in the way of them pursuing it, so making it accessible and enjoyable made it less of an obstacle, and instead, made it a new skill they can add to their resumé.

GravityFree has been an avid supporter of our organization since we started and offers a scholarship for each class. We’ve had women who would not be able to take the class otherwise and have been very appreciative that they are able to take advantage of such a great opportunity because of the scholarships Girl Develop It provides.

If you or anyone you know are interested in learning more about Girl Develop It, please see our website for classes and information: https://www.girldevelopit.com/chapters/tampa-bay.