Seattle Seahawk and Super Bowl Champion Michael Bennett and his wife, Pele, have partnered with the African-led global movement iamtheCODE to help get 100 marginalized girls in Africa into STEAMD (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, Arts and Design).
Photo/Alika Jenner
The Bennetts started the Foundation to encourage kids and their families to live a healthy lifestyle through community outreach, educational workshops, physical activity, and nutritional programs. They’ve recently expanded their outreach and hope to support more minority communities through a variety of activities that including STEM disciplines.
The iamtheCODE movement is designed to promote access in the area of STEAMD for women and girls in marginalized communities.
Recently recognized by the United Nations High Level Panel for Economic Empowerment, iamtheCODE has shown global success by partnering with local and international technology organizations and schools to deliver its pedagogy and technology. Together, they provide a complete system designed to not only enable, but gets students excited, to be protagonists in the construction of knowledge while teaching basic principles and core concepts of programming.
Created by the renowned Senegalese-British technologist and Young Global Leader, Marième Jamme, iamtheCODE is an African-led global movement that have joined forces with world top technology companies to improve the representation of women and girls in the field of ICT. The movement aims to give to most marginalized access to Digital education and increase their employability in the tech industry.
“I am truly excited to help these girls in Africa to learn how to code and gain technical skills through iamtheCODE,” said Michael Bennett. “My wife Pele and I are very proud to support the building of solid tech training pipelines in communities in Africa.”
According to Pele Bennett, the Bennett’s believe in the iamtheCODE’s vision of having 1 million women and girl coders by 2030, therefore they are committed to starting with 100 girls in 3 African countries this year and more next year.
“Michael and I value deeply that the education of girls in marginalized and deprived communities is being taken care of and highlighted by the iamtheCODE initiative,” said Pele Bennett. “We are proud to be able to support young girls to ensure they have a quality education in technology and in STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) as this is truly the future.”
“This co-creation with iamtheCODE will build better lives, create opportunities for girls who are often left behind into the field of tech, and will be catalyzed by internships and industry engagement in the future,” she added.
