SONAC: Sisterhood of Native American Coders Mission and Goals:
The mission of SONAC is to inspire the next generation of young female innovators to pursue careers in STEM by engaging them at an early age (9-12 yrs.) when interest levels can falter so to create and foster a lifetime passion for STEM.
The goals of SONAC are to: Close the gender gap of women in STEM careers; Provide engaging STEM education and activities for Native American girls; and Form a community of girls – led by a peer – who can support each other throughout their academic, internship, and occupational endeavors.
SONAC: Sisterhood of Native American Coders is a nonprofit that creates access and exposure to the field of computer science (CS) to address the disparities in opportunities to learn for underrepresented Native American girls. The program will be fun, educational, and qualify the girls for a full scholarship (valued at $2,000) to Space Camp’s Robotics Camp 2021, at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL.
A few key points of the SONAC: Sisterhood of Native American Coders program include:
- It is entirely free and online in accordance with COVID safety measures
- It is small – 10 students with one lead instructor and one teaching assistant (1:5) It is overseen by a board committee to ensure quality and milestones
- It is well researched and includes Indigenous NASA computer scientists as guest speakers
We uphold Indigenous values
- We know it’s our privilege to be working with tribal youth
- We respect cultural customs
- We have presented at tribal council
For the girls, we like to say: “Coding is like a superpower. It allows you to build projects only limited by your imagination and equips you to carve the future of the world. Learning to code isn’t just a valuable skill to help you make an impact for your Nation and for the world, it builds persistence, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Talking to and understanding your computer may sound daunting, but with our introductory course, you will learn to love the powerful capabilities of computers. The STEM field may be male-dominated, but we can change that together, one girl at a time.”
Skills the girls will learn:
- Basic coding
- Teamwork
- Applying their creativity and imagination
- Determination
- Problem-solving
Please sign up for SONAC: Sisterhood of Native American Coders program here: https://sisterhoodofnativeamericancoders.org/sign-up/
For more details:
Learn more: https://sisterhoodofnativeamericancoders.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SONAC_Official