Meet an Anthem Judge: Brenda Darden Wilkerson, AnitaB.org
In conjunction with our partnership with AnitaB.org, we have welcomed Brenda Darden Wilkerson to The Anthem Awards as an executive member of our judging academy, the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences. As the President and CEO of AnitaB.org, Wilkerson is a committed advocate for access and opportunity for underrepresented communities in technology across all its applications.
This season we have launched the inaugural Anthem Fund to support emerging individuals and organizations working to advance the causes we amplify at The Anthem Awards. Our first-ever fund recipient of the $25,000 grant is AnitaB.org, a global organization supporting the success of women and non-binary people in technology.
In conjunction with our partnership with AnitaB.org, we have welcomed Brenda Darden Wilkerson to The Anthem Awards as an executive member of our judging academy, the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences. As the President and CEO of AnitaB.org, Wilkerson is a committed advocate for access and opportunity for underrepresented communities in technology across all its applications. As a judge for the 2nd Annual Anthem Awards, she will leverage her experiences in technology and advocacy to review submissions across our honored causes. Learn more about Wilkerson below.
1. Her passion for computer science and accessibility began in college
As an undergraduate student, Wilkerson majored in pre-med biomedical engineering at Northwestern University. There, she had the opportunity to take two programming courses – her introduction to computer science. Wilkerson credits this experience as changing her life, “saw the light and became a computer scientist.”
2. She founded the original “Computer Science for All” program
Prior to joining AnitaB.org, Wilkerson served as Director of Computer Science and IT Education for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) for 11 years. While there, she founded the pivotal Computer Science for All program in 2008, which aimed to integrate computer science classes into the curriculum of every student in Chicago’s public schools. Through her efforts, the program impacted over 1.5 million students across Chicago and New York City. The program attracted the attention of the Obama Administration, which inspired former President Obama’s own Computer Science for All Initiatives, which took learnings from Wilkerson.
3. Wilkerson has also worked to democratize computer science for adults
She also cares deeply about providing compute science education for adults. In 1992, she taught computing courses at Wilbur Wright College, part of the City Colleges of Chicago system. To further her impact, Wilkerson soon became the director of Wilbur Wright’s IT training program.
We are so excited to have Brenda Darden Wilkerson as a member of the Anthem Awards judging academy. To learn more about the important work she is doing, head to AnitaB.org’s website.
