Kimberly Bryant

Kimberly Bryant is the founder and CEO of the Black Innovation Lab and Ascend Ventures Tech–an organization for supporting black innovations, through capital investment, mentorship, collaborative opportunities, and community reinvestment. Additionally, Kimberly is also the Founder and Executive Director of Black Girls CODE, a non-profit organization that focuses on introducing teenage girls, ages 7-17, to technology and computer programming (Champions of Change, n.d.). Kimberly designed not only an organization but also played a role in systemic renovation while empowering black women and girls in tech.

Fig.1, Kimberly Bryant. (Champions of Change, n.d.)

While pursuing a career in STEM, Kimberly faced many obstacles and injustices, which inspired her to help create a community for people of color to have support and knowledge of a STEM pathway to ensure those who come after would not face the same injustices. Firstly, Kimberly Bryant was born on January 14th, 1967, in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised by a single mother during the Civil Rights movement (Brodie, 2023). During early childhood, she discovered her love for math and science. Although it was uncomfortable for a black woman in the late 70s to early 80s to pursue a STEM pathway, she persisted. Furthermore, Kimberly described herself as nerdy and intelligent due to her being awarded a scholarship to study Engineering at Vanderbilt University in 1985. During her studies at Vanderbilt University, she majored originally in Engineering. She switched and received her Bachelor of Science (B.S) Degree in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Computer Science and Math. (Kimberly Bryant, n.d.).

Early in Bryant's career, she held jobs at the electrical companies, Westinghouse Electric and DuPont. Later, moving into industries such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and energy. (Kimberly Bryant, n.d.). Currently, black women represent 3% of the tech workforce, so you can only imagine Kimberly's experience 40 years ago, making her achievements even more impressive. Yet, her struggle, dedication, passion, and experience, led her to create a platform and community that supports founders in communities that look like hers, so they don't have to repeat the mistakes she made during her career as a leader. That dream eventually transformed into Black Innovation Lab; an organization for supporting black innovations. She knew that this project had a big goal, a space where people of color have support and supportive spaces where they can thrive. She states she “feels that my experiences and my founder journey brought me to this moment, where I can be a mentor, a supporter, and advisor to others like me” (Aimee, 2024). 

As an inspiration to all, she brought her project to life, other individuals' projects, and more. For example, a second project of hers was Black Girls CODE: a nonprofit organization for immersive camps where young black girls engage in hand-on coding and explore emerging tech. Founded in 2011, where she inspires young girls to increase involvement and interest in STEM. One way of achieving this is through her 3,000 girls in seven chapters in cities in the United States as well as one chapter in Johannesburg, South Africa, with plans to add chapters in eight more cities (Kimberly Bryant, n.d.). In 2013, Black Girls CODE was listed as one of the "25 Most Influential African-Americans In Technology" by Business Insider (Kimberly Bryant, n.d.). Her project brought technology opportunities, support, resources, and STEM awareness for thousands of young black girls. Due to this, Bryant received recognition and won the Jefferson Award: an award that honors those who put others first, including national figures and unsung heroes, to empower them and inspire others. She also received recognition from former President Obama during his term by the White House website, which honored her as one of its eleven Champions of Change in Tech Inclusion – Americans who are "women and girls, and others from communities historically underserved or underrepresented in tech fields” (Brodie, 2023).

Fig. 2,  The Jefferson Award

“The ‘Black GirlBoss Paradox” is a phenomenon Kimberly has been exploring within her advocacy work alongside other Black women leaders as part of the OpEd and Equality Now’s Public Voices Fellowship on Advancing The Rights Of Women And Girls. An Opinion-Editorial: a piece of writing published in a newspaper or other publication that presents the writer's viewpoint on a current issue. Equality Now is an international non-profit organization that uses legal advocacy to achieve gender equality for women and girls worldwide. The “Black GirlBoss Paradox" is focused throughout OpEd and Equality Now’s written work and research and is the foundation of a future advocacy organization. Kimberly describes that the ‘Black GirlBoss Paradox’ is when, “black women ascend to a certain level in leadership and they find many obstacles, and many biases around our ability to lead and hold power in current infrastructures” (Aimee, 2024). While separate from Black Innovation Lab, the goal remains similar, with themes of equity, inclusion, and empowerment, collectively working toward a more equitable and supportive landscape for marginalized founders and leaders.

Throughout Bryant’s journey as the founder and CEO of the Black Innovation Lab and Black Girls CODE, she continued her goal of creating spaces where people of color have support and can thrive. Today, she is expanding Black Innovation Lab into a dedication to community empowerment, growth, commitment to providing resources, mentorship, and opportunities to underrepresented tech founders who often face systemic barriers (Aimee, 2024). I hope to see more subprojects and founders supported by Black Innovation Lab. 

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Works Cited:

Aimee. (2024, February 15). Kimberly Bryant: Founder and CEO, Black Innovation Lab and Ascend Ventures Tech. The Glass Hammer. Retrieved September 28, 2025, from https://theglasshammer.com/2024/02/kimberly-bryant-founder-and-ceo-black-innovation-lab-and-ascend-ventures-tech/

Brodie, J. (2023, January 14). Kimberly Bryant: Black Girls Code. Computer Science For Fun. Retrieved September 28, 2025, from https://cs4fn.blog/2023/01/14/kimberly-bryant-founder-of-black-girls-code-born-14-january-1967/#:~:text=Kimberly%20Bryant%20was%20born%20on,with%20Computer%20Science%20and%20Maths.

Champions of Change. (n.d.). The White House President Barack Obama. Retrieved September 28, 2025, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/champions/tech-inclusion/kimberly-bryant

Kimberly Bryant, Electrical Engineer born. (n.d.). African American Registry. Retrieved September 28, 2025, from https://aaregistry.org/story/kimberly-bryant-electrical-engineer-born