(Image source from: Swetha Prabakaran Indian-American Champions Of Change})

15-year-old Indian-American girl, Swetha Prabakaran has been awarded the prestigious award of the White House, “Champions of Change” for empowering the community by imparting Internet coding through her non-profit organisation. Swetha is the Founder and CEO of a non-profit organisation called ‘Everybody Code Now’, which is working to empower the next generation of youth to become engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs. Swetha’s  parents have immigrated to the US from Tamil Nadu in 1998.

“When I took my first Computer Science class in high school, I didn’t think that one day I’d be the one teaching code to kids. I really wanted other girls to have strong mentors and exposure to tech the way I did,” Swetha said after receiving the award. “Being able to see women I admired and looked up to in this space gave me the confidence I needed to pursue my love for computer science,” she said.

“Through Everybody Code Now!, I’ve been able to teach hundreds of kids to code and helped bring more science and engineering activities to schools,” she said. “I’ve seen elementary school girls who had never heard of programming blossom into confident students building websites about their favorite sports or animals and watched the quietest students become the classroom leaders,” said Swetha.

“Under Swetha’s direction, Everybody Code Now! has taught hundreds of students how to code and has raised thousands of dollars for STEM activities in schools,” the White House said.

By Premji