Malinda Williams Boosts STEM Initiatives for Women at HBCUs

Actress Malinda Williams is bringing her passion for supporting STEM programs for women at historically Black colleges and universities into action.

In 2023, she launched the Arise And Shine Foundation, aiming to guide young women at HBCUs towards tech careers through a coding boot camp. Williams, known for her role in “Soul Food,” drew inspiration from her personal journey of transitioning from acting to tech, where she learned to build websites out of necessity.

“As a successful actor, people didn’t want to hear my story of adversity. They didn’t want to know I could code or build websites,” she told Afro Tech.

“They just wanted to know when my next movie would be. ‘Yeah, that’s nice, but when’s your next TV show?’”

Williams highlighted the importance of pushing through imposter syndrome and showing up authentically. These values are integral to her HBCU coding boot camp, which combines hard coding skills with soft skills like overcoming adversity.

A “spiritual” trip to a bookstore was a pivotal moment for Williams. She discovered a book titled ‘HTML For Dummies,’ which ignited her latent interest in technology.

“I had tinkered around a little bit with technology. I am an engineer at heart. My dad is an engineer, and my mom is a creative. So I think I have an equal amount of both of them within me,” she shared.

During a period when technology was less advanced, Williams self-taught herself four different programming languages. Her determination and self-learning journey inspired her to create similar opportunities for young women.

“I taught myself about four different programming languages at the time, which was about 15 years ago. So there were no modular programs that allowed us to just kind of stack, drag, and drop,” Williams explained.

After mastering coding, Williams began building websites for friends and built a following on YouTube by making hair videos. This gave her a unique perspective on the shifting content space and the need to help Black women stay ahead in tech trends.

Williams founded the Arise And Shine Foundation Inc. with her sisters to connect and educate underserved and underrepresented women and girls. The foundation’s coding boot camp began on May 31 at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, teaching students how to build their own applications along with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) training and Apple programming language.

“It went above and beyond our expectations,” Williams said of the program, which received support from Apple. “The young ladies blew our minds.”

“We had things in place to make sure they felt valued, to let them know they matter, and to let them know that this is an exchange,” she continued.

The program’s success was marked by a four-week virtual coding camp where students learned to build apps. Many arrived with no prior knowledge of technology or coding.

Following the successful pilot, Williams plans to extend the coding boot camp to more HBCUs across the country in 2025.

“Our goal is to impact every single HBCU,” she shared. “Next year, we will be at a different school. Ultimately, I want to do a tour. I want to be at an HBCU near you and be present and available for women who want to be empowered.”

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Source: Afro Tech