My first Magazine EDUCARE MAGAZINE SPECIAL NOVEMBER EDITION 2019 | Page 26

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Charmienne Butterfield
BLACK GIRLS CODE: 15-YEAR-OLD
CHARMIENNE BUTTERFIELD STARTED
CODING AT AGE 8
B
lack Girls Code recently
launched a series entitled,
#FutureTechBoss where
they are highlighting
some extremely
inspirational young girls
in the field. According to a recent post,
the purpose of the campaign is to serve
as motivation and empowerment for
Educare November 2019
the future generation of tech girls and
show the world that black girls code and
do so much more.
Recently, the organization highlighted
Charmienne Butterfield, a 15-year-old
high school student who has been
coding since she was 8 years old, who is
an aspiring NASA astrophysicist.
"I've been with Black Girls Code since
I was 8, I'm now 15," said Butterfield.
"What I absolutely love about the
organization is that it lets me know
that I am not alone in my love for
tech, or in my goals to one day work in
the tech industry. It not only brings
like-minded girls together, but also
introduces us to women and men of
color in the tech industry, who we can
Charmienne Butterfield (Image: Black Girls Code)
look up to, and know that there are
others out there who also want to see
that we succeed.”
Butterfield's dream job is to become
an astrophysicist at NASA. "I'd love to
study the physics of the cosmos and
write computer programs that would
further our knowledge about what
really is out there beyond what we
currently know," she continued.
Two of her biggest STEM role
models are her brothers. Her oldest
brother just graduated from UC Santa
Cruz and is working at the data
company Looker. Her other brother
currently is a senior at UC Berkeley. He
went into university wanting to major in
computer science but, decided he
wanted to be more than just a computer
engineer.
He wanted to bring his
knowledge and skills into the fight
against poverty, social injustice,
environmental causes, and educational
causes. "He has helped me to see that
even if you are in the tech industry, that
you need to see and to care more about
the world around you, not just the world
in front of you on a computer screen,"
stated Butterfield.
Black Girls Code, founded by
Kimberly Bryant is a not-for-profit
organization that focuses on providing
technology education for African
American girls.
by Sequoia Blodgett, BLACK ENTERPRISE
Educare November 2019