HP Innovation Journal Special Edition: Sustainable Impact | Page 29

LESLEY SLATON BROWN: I think about Black Girls
Code and the phenomenal work that your mother, Kimberly
Bryant, is leading out on—the number of chapters that have
sprung up in so many areas across the country, even globally
now. What’s the journey been like for you watching Black
Girls Code from its infancy to now? KAI MORTON: It’s really important to invest in the new
KAI MORTON: It’s been very fast. It feels like just yesterday think we don’t know that you guys know?
I was back in middle school learning how to code. Now l
get to teach other people how to code and I get to see other
people who actually look up to me, which is really powerful.
Because back when I was just coding, I didn’t know who to
look up to. I didn’t have any peers who were interested in
what I was interested in, so I was kind of worried about how I
would go into an industry where I didn’t see people who look
like me. But now, seeing the industry is becoming more and
more diverse is powerful.
LESLEY SLATON BROWN: What are the talents and
tools that you use on a day-to-day basis as you start aspiring
toward programming and coding?
KAI MORTON: In the beginning, I was thinking I’m going
to be headfirst into technology only. I was only going to be
coding and developing on the front end and back end and
that kind of stuff. But as I started to get older, I started to
realize that a lot of my interests could be incorporated into
what I created and what I was coding. And now I realize that
a lot of my own intersectionalities kind of play into what I’m
interested in creating and building. My love of music and art
and design nicely play into what I create and code. I think
I just started realizing how cool it is to do things that are
completely unrelated but merge them somehow.
LESLEY SLATON BROWN: I like the way you brought in
that intersectionality—as a young African American woman,
and your art, music, all of those different things that you
love. That’s what I do around diversity and inclusion at HP.
Bringing those different perspectives to the table creates
better innovation. What about the coding and programming
career field really excites you?
KAI MORTON: I think the fact that it’s been around for a
little bit now but it’s so open to change. Everything about
it seems new. It’s a completely new frontier of possibilities.
Every year we find something new in technology or coding,
and I think that’s amazing. It’s just so cool. The fact that
coding is so accessible. Little kids can do it. The earliest
I’ve seen is like a five-year-old learn how to code. I think
that’s amazing because that brings in a whole new realm of
diversity, not just on the racial standpoint, or gender, but age
and generations.
LESLEY SLATON BROWN: What is your recommendation
for us more senior/tenured people as it pertains to technology?
Fostering a Pipeline of Talent
generation. I think that’s beautiful to see people in high
positions and people of power, and people who come from
diverse experiences and have a lot of wisdom, help young
people to share their voices.
LESLEY SLATON BROWN: What’s one thing that you
KAI MORTON: We don’t get enough credit for how much
we actually know. There are so many very intelligent young
people, it’s amazing. People our age are so passionate at an
early age. It’s amazing to get in touch with their stories. I
don’t think people think about how passionate we are. (They
think) we’re just in the transition phases of adulthood and
we don’t really know what we’re interested in. Everyone I
know has a certain passion that drives them. I think that’s
really beautiful.
LESLEY SLATON BROWN: What are you most looking
forward to as you move forward?
KAI MORTON: I’m really excited to see what the future
holds. I remember when I was really young, I was always
obsessed with science fiction. That’s kind of informed even
what I love to do now. I’m interested in Afrofuturism, and
the future of blacks and people of color in technology is
really amazing to see develop and diversify. So I’m really
excited to see what the future holds. There are just so many
amazing technologies that people can get in touch with these
days and I’m excited to see where that leads.
LESLEY SLATON BROWN: When you think about your
future, what do you see and what do you imagine for the
future of technology for young girls, and for young African-
American girls?
KAI MORTON: I see a future of inclusion, where black
girls are actually being included in the conversation and
being able to bring what they have—all their background
knowledge and everything—into what they work on, whether
it be at a company or at their own company. That’s really
amazing to see when people let their intersectionalities out
into what they create. I think that’s a big part of why I love
the movement for diversity and inclusion, especially in the
tech field, because there is so much more coming. We’re just
in our pioneering stages; we’re just on the frontier, basically.
It’s kind of rediscovering a whole new world, so I’m really
excited to see where it goes, and to see other girls who look
like me take what they have and run with it.
Watch the full conversation between Lesley and Kai, filmed in
David Packard’s historic HP office, and learn more about Kai
Morton’s interest in technology and arts in the film My Name is
Kai.
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