By Steve Seepersaud
Gabriella Becker ’13 is making an impact on women’s history one student at a time, one program at a time. She encourages experimentation, stepping outside your comfort zone, not being afraid to fail and approaching technology with an eye on how it benefits humankind.
Becker is senior manager of program operations for Girls Who Code (GWC), an international nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in technology. GWC aims to inspire, educate, and equip female and nonbinary students with 21st-century computing skills. Since its inception in 2012, the organization has reached about 500,000 students.
She develops mechanisms for students and educators to enroll in GWC programs, crafts strategies to increase program retention and focuses on reaching new participants.
“I started just before the pandemic and was immediately tasked with innovating and supporting the transition of our in-person summer programming to a virtual environment,” Becker said. “We focused on the pandemic's impacts on our most marginalized students and the importance of developing programming to be accessible and flexible. We reached more students than ever, with enrollment in our flagship summer programs for high school students growing by over 200% from pre-pandemic metrics. In 2022, we served more than 7,000 students in these programs.”
As a student, Becker was passionate about helping others and blazing new trails. She was a founding member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi sorority and established the Autism Speaks U chapter on °®¶ą´«Ă˝â€™s campus. A data-driven career may seem like a stretch for an English and human development double major; however, her in-class and extracurricular experiences developed her analytical mind, ability to grow creatively and desire to give back.
“As an English major, I was always intrigued by patterns, themes and trends I could find when analyzing a literary work. My human development background contributed to my desire to be in a career that makes a difference.”
Becker says GWC has sparked a cultural shift in the STEM fields and is helping create a more representative workforce. The organization has 115,000 alumni of college age and beyond, and they are earning computer science and related degrees at seven times the national average.
“It’s rewarding knowing that I’m directly impacting future opportunities for female and non-binary students across the globe. My data-driven role allows me to see results through the numbers, but also with names and stories. Our growing technical world needs creative minds that will push boundaries and innovate for our future. These young women and non-binary students and professionals are setting us up for a future of using tech to make a difference.”