Bethlehem Gronneberg is a seasoned Software Engineer, an inspirational speaker, an author, and a social entrepreneur with a vision to exponentially expand the inclusion of diverse voices in the technology workforce. By providing opportunities and exposure to technical skills, entrepreneurial mindset and practical confidence-building experiences for teen girls, Bethlehem strives to be a global agent of change that fosters young women's affinity to the world of computational design thinking.  

Referred to as the "unlikely STEMinist" by the Huffington Post article, Gronneberg is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of uCodeGirl, a non-profit designed to inspire, engage and equip teen girls so that they can confidently choose to forge a pathway to technology careers and engineer their world.  

Created to intentionally rhyme with the phrase, “You go, girl!”, uCodeGirl is committed to embodying inspiration and empowerment. Through year-round programming, Bethlehem explains her vision of uCodeGirl as follows:

"We want to say to a young girl, ‘We will support and encourage you with mentorship. We will teach and guide you in acquiring technical skills. We will build a village around you and stand behind you through tutoring as you explore your potential and create your best self,’ so that the future generation is empowered with the skills and confidence they need to successfully navigate and actively participate in our increasingly digitally-driven world.”

At the core of uCodeGirl is access to skills and opportunities. At uCodeGirl, we not only teach technical skills, but we also build a community of like-minded peers. We invite young girls to come as they are and provide them with visible and accessible female mentors, enabling them to create solutions to real-world problems and engineer their world. Bethlehem’s call to action? "Join us to inspire and empower many more young women."

A Bachelor of Science degree from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia in Statistics and Computer Science launched Bethlehem’s tech career as the first webmaster for United Nations - Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA). After 20+ years in the software industry as Software Engineer, Sr. Software Engineer, Software Engineering Manager and a masters degree in Software Engineering from North Dakota State University, Bethlehem has become a social entrepreneur - an advocate for women in technology.

Ms. Gronneberg is the recipient of the prestigious Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship. As a Bush Fellow, she is challenged to think big and to think different. Bethlehem is committed to bringing the real-world experience of software development to classrooms as a Computer Science instructor.

Bethlehem has served on various councils and boards including the Fargo Chapter of the International Women in Technology. Bethlehem was named the 2018 YWCA Woman of the Year in Science and Technology.  The 2018 Exceptional Women Leaders by Women Economic Forum and a finalist for the 2019 GlobalMindED Inclusive Leaders Award. Bethlehem is committed to a world where the people who create and build technology products and services mirror the people and societies for which they create and build. Ms. Gronneberg has spoken at numerous occasions on the topics of digital literacy and the inclusion of women in technology, nationally and internationally at conferences, summits and symposiums.