Two New York women were tired of being the only female coders in the workplace, tech meetups, in life in general.
So they started Girl Develop It to teach other women to code. And then word spread to other cities, and more women began hosting classes in CSS, HTML, WordPress and more.
Sydney, Austin, Detroit, Ottawa, Cincinnati…. and now Raleigh/Durham.
Raleigh native Rachael Hobbs is behind the new group, kicking off its first set of four classes January 9 at Relevance Inc. in Durham. Hobbs isn’t necessarily a feminist, but the reality is that her efforts could be a key way to grow the pool of Triangle women working for startups and founding tech companies.
In cities where Girl Develop It chapters have formed, women meet at coffee shops on weekends to code together and share their learnings. They’ve passed beginner classes and moved on to startup-friendly courses on Ruby on Rails, Django and mobile app development.
“I’m really looking for input from people that would be interested in classes to see what they’d like to learn,” Hobbs says. The key to Girl Develop It is a collaborative and open environment where no question is a dumb one.
Julia Elman of Chapel Hill’s Caktus Group will teach the first class of 20, open to both men and women and focused on CSS and HTML. Four two-hour classes cost $80. Hobbs hopes to eventually offer scholarships.
To be successful in the Triangle, Hobbs has some needs: More instructors and teaching assistants for future classes, classroom space in Raleigh, and good venues to host social events. She also needs the startup community to spread the word widely.
Hobbs believes Girl Develop It will help further her career at a local environmental data management company. But mostly, she hopes to build new skills in others and give something back to her hometown.
