Black Girls Code hosts Beta game development workshop

Breanna Collins – one of 14 girls who built a video game at the Black Girls Code session in the fall of 2011. PHOTO/Black Girls Code

Black Girls Code – a San Francisco-based startup, that is working to empower mostly African American girls embrace and pursue technology-based careers, hosted a beta game development workshop – the Build a Game in a Day

The event focused on using an interactive tool called Beta – which allows people to play, create and share games while learning how to code.

The lack of diversity in Silicon Valley continues to be a topic of concern – as large tech companies Google, Yahoo, LinkedIn and, most recently, Facebook release not-so-stellar diversity statistics. One thing has become clear from the recent influx of diversity reports from these companies: White men rule Silicon Valley.

In an attempt to jumpstart diversity in the tech industry, initiatives like this run by Black Girls Code seek to help chip away at Silicon Valley’s distinct lack of women – particularly African American women by teaching young girls of color about coding and the power of technology.