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4 4 C T I N N O V A T O R S , 2 0 2 3 Workforce Diversity Tucker-Barrett's growing Hartford nonprofit helps women of color pursue careers in technology and engineering >> BY JOEL BERG On a Saturday in summer 2015, Sabrina Tucker-Barrett convened her first class at the Hartford Public Library, where about 30 mid- dle-school girls learned about coding, robotics and other aspects of technology from volunteers recruited from Aetna, ESPN and other companies in the Hartford region. It was the birth of Girls For Technology, a nonprofit Tucker-Barrett first conceived as part of a college grant-writing class, but that fills a gap she has experienced throughout her life: a dearth of women of color pursuing careers in technology and engineering. "I saw women who were (certified nursing assistants) and nurs- es that looked like me," said Tucker-Barrett, who grew up in New London and Waterford. "But I didn't see anyone that I could say was a mentor or a role model that had an engineering or an IT back- ground." Eight years aer it began, Girls For Technology has grown into a million-dollar nonprofit with an 8,000-square-foot headquarters in downtown Hartford's central business district. Tucker-Barrett, meanwhile, can say she is helping to create the next generation of mentors. Some of her first students have gone on to high-paying tech jobs — and come back to Hartford to help inspire the girls now taking classes through the nonprofit. One of her earliest students wanted to be a math teacher and did not understand why her mother was pushing her to take classes about technology, Tucker-Barrett said. e class ended up going on a field trip to Google's New York City offices, which inspired the student to study computer science. She went onto Emory University in Atlanta and is now pursuing a doctorate at UCLA, Tucker-Barrett said. She also mentors current Girls For Technology students. PHOTOS | STEVE LASCHEVER Sabrina Tucker-Barrett moved her nonprofit, Girls For Technology, into an 8,000-square-foot office space in downtown Hartford's central business district, giving it close access to key employers.