DREAM. STEM. LEAD.
DREAM. STEM. LEAD.
Build Confidence. Build Skills.
Chart your Career Path in Tech.
uCodeGirl is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization designed to inspire, engage, and equip young women with leadership traits, computational thinking skills, and entrepreneurial mindsets.
uCodeGirl strives to bridge the gender gap in technology so that young girls can confidently pursue 21st century opportunities.
By building confidence, enhancing skills, and tapping into curiosity, uCodeGirl helps young girls chart pathways to technology careers. With various age-appropriate enrichment programs and STEM mentorship initiatives, uCodeGirl makes technology learning accessible, relevant and fun.
Our Why
Our Why
Despite a steady increase in the number of Computer Science bachelor's degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions in the past decade, a critical gap exists between enrollment and degree completion rates among undergraduates in general.
and female students in particular - across the world
That means Young women are missing out from participating in a highly creative, lucrative, and flexible digital economy.
We are here to re-write that story.
uCodeGirl is a year-round enrichment program with a vision to incubate talent, unlock potential, and increase access to participation in the technology industry.
Young women are curious, creative and capable powerhouses. When they are confident in their abilities and are prepared with knowledge and skills they need, they can become leaders in whatever fields they choose.
“I strongly believe early exposure to technical skills and the entrepreneurial mindset can be the gateway for girls to have an upward success in the socioeconomic ladder. If I had never touched a computer, I never would have known what’s possible. I am committed to this because I want girls to transcend boundaries and connect globally to solve problems most pressing to societal issues, using technology to benefit our collective future. ”
Sometimes in life, you end up exactly where you are supposed to be but not necessarily where you planned to be. Read more about Bethlehem’s story in becoming the accidental coder.
“The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that there will be over 1 million technology jobs by 2024 in every industry and in every state.”
“Tech companies with more women in management have a 34% higher return of investment. ”
Our Founder
Bethlehem Gronneberg
Our Founder
Bethlehem Gronneberg
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.
“Our purpose is to fill the access-to-technology sandbox with more diverse voices, globally, by inviting young girls to opt-in early.”
Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Board of Directors
UCODEGIRL BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Nancy Hafkin, Ph.D.
Author and Information Technology Pioneer
Dr. Nancy J. Hafkin has been working to promote information and communications technology in Africa and other developing areas, with particular emphasis on gender, for more than thirty years. She was chief of research for 12 years in the program for women and development at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa — the first international women and development program in the world — and went on to head the ECA program to Promote Information Technology for Development in Africa, where she worked to establish the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) -- eight years before WSIS. The program worked to set up the first electronic communication networks in a number of African countries and went on to convince African governments of the importance of the Internet. In 2000 the Association for Progressive Communications established the annual Nancy Hafkin Communications Prize competition. Dr. Hafkin was the first to be inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame by the Internet Society.
She has written widely on information technology, gender and international development, including Gender, Information Technology, and Developing Countries: An Analytic Study, Cinderella or Cyberella: Empowering Women in the Information Society and Engendering the Knowledge Society: Measuring Women’s Participation. Most recently she contributed the chapter on gender issues to the World Web Foundation volume edited by George Sadowsky, Accelerating Development Using the Web: Empowering Poor and Marginalized Populations. Nancy has a Ph.D. in history (Africa) from Boston University.
Carol E. Johnson, J.D.
Attorney at Law
Carol is a designated Super Lawyer in the practice areas of Family Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution, and she received the 2015 Nationally Ranked Top 10 North Dakota Attorney Award presented by the National Academy of Family Law Attorneys. She is also involved with the North Dakota Lawyer's Assistance Program, assisting peers whose professional responsibilities are being impacted by mental health or substance abuse issues. Carol is a past chairperson of the Inquiry Committee Northeast, a facet of the State Bar Association Disciplinary Board, and a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers Of America.
Bethlehem Gronneberg, Ph.D.
Founder and CEO of uCodeGirl
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. She is passionate about working with young women to forge pathways to careers in technology and making sure women are not under-represented in 21st-century jobs and tech-executive positions.
Bethlehem earned her bachelor's from Addis Ababa University, masters in Software Engineering from North Dakota State University, and Ph.D. in Software Engineering.
Becky Newell
President at levridge, LLc
Becky Newell is President of Levridge, a subsidiary of Stoneridge Software. Becky is a co-founder of Stoneridge Software, and had served as a Vice President of Development for five years. Prior experience includes 14.5 years at Microsoft working in development and support.
In 2012, Becky co-founded Stoneridge Software. Becky and her team focused on environments, performance, data migrations, version control, customizations, and business intelligence (BI). Within those disciplines, the team has a specific focus on training client team members to be self-sufficient. She has enjoyed many opportunities as an instructor over the years, teaching developers how Dynamics AX works – giving them a good understanding of the X++ language and AX development environment.
In 2018, Becky co-founded and currently leads the product-development arm of Stoneridge Software called Levridge. Becky is married and has 2 teenage daughters. She and her family live in Barnesville, MN.
Ronda Železný-Green, PhD
Digital Learning & Policy. Gender & Education Advocacy. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Expertise.
Dr. Ronda Železný-Green is a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) changemaker creating systems to empower Black people, women, people with disabilities, and other marginalized populations in the technology and education sectors.
Serving as a mobile technologist, trainer, and researcher, Ronda’s 15+ years of professional experience spans five continents and the public, private, and civil society sectors. A Black and Native American cis woman excelling with ADHD, Ronda also has extensive experience delivering action-oriented training that integrates the themes of racial equity and justice and gender with global perspectives.
Hallmarks of her career include: championing, coaching, and mentoring women in tech; learning with tech; and empowering people to use technology as transformative tools to live their best lives.
Trevor Gruby
principal Software Engineering manager at Microsoft
Trevor is an engineering leader, entrepreneur, and technologist experienced in building in launching products, systems, and tech companies from the ground up.
He currently works for Amazon as a Senior Software Development Manager enabling Amazon Devices to form a peer-assisted network over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and BLE Mesh among other protocols to aid in device setup and maintaining network connectivity. The solution is deployed to 60+ million devices and leveraged by 50+ device companies.
Prior to working at Microsoft, Trevor was the technology leader to launch Amazon Care, co-founder and CTO of Intelligent InSites, tech lead building SureScript/RxHub’s master patient indexing solution, and developed the security and common services infrastructure for HealthNexis.
Trevor aspires to continue to innovate significant and impactful technology solutions for major software companies until one or two of his children are ready to start their own company with their father. Trevor did his undergrad in Computer Science at Saint John’s University and Masters at the University of Minnesota.
Past Board Members
Bree Langemo, J.D.
President of Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative (eli)
As President of Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative (ELI), Bree Langemo leads the national strategy for partnership development. As Dean of Business, Public Service & Social Sciences at Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado Springs, Bree helped coordinate the roll-out of the Ice House as a required student success course with extraordinary results. This inspired the development of ELI’s newest product, the Ice House Student Success Program, a student success course that inspires and engages students using the entrepreneurial mindset to teach the perseverance and determination needed to succeed in school and in life.
Sandi Piatz
Director and site leader of MICROSOFT, fargo campus
Sandi has been in the technology industry for almost 20 years working in startup software companies, national technology consulting firms, and Microsoft. Today, as the Site Leader for Microsoft, Sandi and her team lead the Fargo campus, which includes working on initiatives to drive growth, carrying out site operations, engaging with customers & partners, developing employee culture & moral, supporting recruitment efforts across business groups, and running the campus’s philanthropic and STEM programs. Sandi has a Master’s in Business and is currently working on her Master’s in Leadership. Sandi is a true believer that great things happen when people work together to achieve a common goal.
Youth Advisory Council
uLeadGirl
Youth Advisory Council
uLeadGirl
uLeadGirl
uCodeGirl Youth Advisory council
Our Youth Advisory Council, uLeadGirl, is created to provide opportunities for young girls to grow through leadership roles, public speaking, and collaboration. The members of uLeadGirl champion the importance of participating in technology & innovation as the future workforce and are important voices in reviewing uCodeGirl program initiatives. The young girls are selected to contribute to the mission of uCodeGirl as ambassadors and leaders in their communities. They also coordinate and participate in workshops and speak at special events.
