There was lots of energy and good questions about The Shuri Project during Chi Hack Night on 9/18/18. Soren Spicknall captured the highlights of the presentation perfectly on Twitter.

Tonight at #ChiHackNight, @SmartKyla_ talks about the personal journey that led her from Executive Director of Smart Chicago Collaborative to the CEO of @HenryLovesu2. She leads The Shuri Project, a community-based tech mentoring program for girls between 8 and 12 years old. pic.twitter.com/8b2MR8zWDx

— Soren Spicknall (@SorenSpicknall) September 18, 2018

The Shuri Project goes beyond building technical skills: it brings teachers into the room who have lived through similar experiences to theirs as young black women, and it builds confidence by reflecting students’ lives in their learning experience.#ChiHackNight

— Soren Spicknall (@SorenSpicknall) September 19, 2018

The motto of The Shuri Project: “Representation Is Key”. It doesn’t matter how many people swoop into a neighborhood and tell kids that they can do anything. If none of those people look like them or come from similar backgrounds, those assurances ring hollow.#ChiHackNight

— Soren Spicknall (@SorenSpicknall) September 19, 2018

By going beyond the content of a typical coding bootcamp, The Shuri Project achieves some truly impressive things. For instance, girls who went through the program’s first cohort saw an average 40% increase in general literacy skills.#ChiHackNight

— Soren Spicknall (@SorenSpicknall) September 19, 2018

There is no excuse for not having mentors whose lived experiences reflect students’ own lives, especially in a city as diverse as Chicago.

“I am here to help with your representation concerns”, says @SmartKyla_, offering to connect anybody to black women mentors.#ChiHackNight

— Soren Spicknall (@SorenSpicknall) September 19, 2018

To watch the full presentation, visit Chi Hack Night on YouTube.