Girls For Technology was co-founded by Sabrina Tucker-Barrett and Anthony Barrett in 2015 to promote workforce equity and economic mobility through STEM programs for women and girls of color.
Their vision – a society where women of color excel without barriers.
“We started out of a community need,” shared Co-founder, President & CEO Sabrina Tucker-Barrett. “From an early age, I’ve been passionate about women and girls, and even more so, girls that look like me that don’t have opportunities. I grew up with great opportunities. However, a mile away from where I lived I saw those who didn’t have those opportunities. I also always had a love for things that are technological and I liked building with my hands. However, I never saw black women as engineers. I wanted to change this.”
Through a lot of hard work and tenacity, the organization has grown significantly since its early days teaching young girls about computer literacy and coding at the Hartford Public Library. They now serve 3000 girls and women to date through initiatives that include K-12 programs, workforce development (Pipeline 4.0), and Building for Equity, a program designed to address long-standing barriers to growth, financing, and technical assistance. You can learn more about these specific initiatives here.
Together, Girls For Technology and SVP CT are tackling organizational growth challenges so that Girls For Technology has an even greater capacity to make an impact in the lives of women and girls of color in CT. With an emphasis on professional development and innovative use of technology, the team is laser-focused on breaking the cycle of poverty for generations to come.
“SVP has been very helpful in coming in and seeing some of the challenges we face…taking the time to understand the best approach to working together,” Sabrina said. “It wasn’t just filling out a form and we’ll assign you somebody. It has been thoughtful and collaborative.”
Our SVP-CT team, led by volunteer partner Cheryl Hilton and staff member Michael Van Leesten, is truly humbled by the opportunity to work alongside this incredible organization and we look forward to sharing more about our collaborative work as we continue to build our partnership.
