Rebecca Garcia (computer programmer)

Rebecca Garcia, a young girl from New York who at only 14 years old began coding and looked for a way to turn it into something positive. In a male dominated field she continued to learn and strive for a better understanding of technology and coding. As a co founder of CoderDojo in Long Island, NY she spends her time helping youths learn and become more educated with talents they may have never realized. Rebecca Garcia has had many articles written about her, one titled "Rebecca Garcia's Code for Social Change," which discusses how she helps underprivileged and minority youths ages seven to seventeen code. Garcia is continuing to strive for greatness as an activist and advocate for STEM education as well as changing the lives of young children as well as adults who believe they have lost their chance.

Biography

Rebecca Garcia was born in Long Island, NY from Hispanic and Asian parents in 1991. She is a first generation American with the descent of Filipino, Mexican, and Japanese. Her parents taught her to value her education as well as giving back.

Education

The college or university that Garcia attended is not listed although she started as a law student. Law was not Garcia's first choice but she has said she enrolled because that's what her parents saw fit, so she did it to please them. After realizing that law was not her passion she dropped out of law school and began exploring and working. Garcia did not return to school, but instead saw that working various jobs was her education and taught her things in a more hands on way.

Career and Work

Garcia has worked in many different companies throughout her career. She was once a developer at Do Something which is a United States based non profit, made to focus on youth and social change and she was also CTO of Greatist which is a health fitness and wellness media startup. This is where she really learned to implement her web development skills by helping her advocate for Girls Who Code and Iridescent. Learning to use her web development skills for good prepared her to connect her with people around the world through numerous types of technology. At this time Garcia is working for Microsoft's Tech Jobs Academy as the program manager where she helps underrepresented New Yorkers get into the information technology field. Garcia who is one of the founders and works for CoderDojo in NYC which helps teens between the ages of seven and seventeen learn to code.

Major Contribution

Garcia is known for coding and she says she is most proud of being recognized as a White House Champion of Change for Tech Inclusion. She was only 22 when she received the award in 2013, she was the youngest person and the only Latina and Asian American recognized that year. Garcia was recognized to not be like other coders who are celebrated for their work behind a screen, she is known to get other people behind the screen. Seeing technology as a tool for a change Garcia believes it is all about the ability to be passionate about learning.

References

• "Rebecca garcia". The White House. Retrieved 2018-03-29.</ref>
• "Rebecca Garcia's Code for Social Change". Pacific Standard. Retrieved 2018-03-29.</ref>
• "NYC Geekette of the Month: Rebecca Garcia". Geekettes. Retrieved 2018-03-29.</ref>
• "About". GeekGirlWeb. Retrieved 2018-03-30.</ref>
• "Rebecca Garcia Bio". generalassemb.ly. Retrieved 2018-03-30.</ref>