Innovation & Tech Today – May 2019

SUMMER 2019|INNOVATION & TECH TODAY 89

PARTNERSHIP WITHPRODUCED IN

I&TToday: Oneofyouraspirationsisto
createa campforgirlstolearntocode. Can
youtellmea littlebitaboutthat?

AM:I wanttoteachgirlsaboutwhatreally
openedthedoorsforme,andI wantthemto
reallyexperiencewhatcodingislike.SoI want
tomakesomethingthatreallygetsgirls
togetherandwecanjustshareideasandcode
whatevertheylikeandsetgoalsandchallenges
thattheycanovercomeandjustreallywork
togetherandsee how much coding can make a
difference.

I&TToday: Andyou’replanning on
developinganappaswell?

AM:SousuallywhenI gosomewhere,I
sometimeshavetroublegettingintoa building
becauseit mightbehardformetofindthe
accessibleentrance.I don’twantthattobea
problem for other people. So I want to build an

appwhereit’seasytogettothebuildingand

whereit’seasytofindthataccessibleentrance.

Eveninthebathroom,somestallsmightbe

hardtogetinto,andI wanttomakesurethat

theyknowwhichstallisthebestforthem.

Myoverallplanis totrytobuildtheappand

justmakesurethatpeoplecanfindtheaccessible

routeandlearnmoreabouttheapp,abouthow

tomakeit andlearnthecodingprogramstotry

tohelpoutwithit andcollectthedata.Andin

time,userscanaddtheirownexperience.

I&TToday: Whatdoyouthinkisthemain

messagethatyoureallywanttogetacross

whilespeakingateventssuchasWEDay?

AM:Thatcodingisforeveryone,andno

matterwhoyouare,orwhatyouwanttobe,

codingwillhelpyouwithwhateverjobyou

haveinthefuture.Boys,girls,andpeople with

disabilities, anybody can code.

Ifyou’rewillingtoworkhardandreallylearn

moreaboutcoding,it canbesomethingreally

fun,andit canchangetheworld.Evenif people

sayyourideasareweird,orsomethingthat’s

notgoingtowork.Becauseweliveina world

wherepeoplesayno,andI wanttoliveina

worldwherepeoplesay yes. So, if they sayno

toyou,yousayyes.

I&TToday: Whatwouldyousayis the best

wayforpeopletolearntocode?

AM:Youcantakeclasses.Youcanread

aboutcoding.Youcandoallthesedifferent

codingkits;I’vehadsomeverygoodcoding

kits.Youcanjustlearnmoreaboutcodingin

anyway,really,thatmakesyoufeelcomfortable.

Andreally,codingissomethingthatissimple;

it’sfun.Ifyoureallyachieveyourgoalof

learningmore,thenyoucan really do

something withit.■

“Welive ina world

where peoplesay

no, andI want to

live ina world

where people

say yes. So,if

theysay noto

you, you say yes.”

A majorpartofAnnaMiller’sadvocacyis

herspeakingengagementsatvarious

events.Oneofthemostexcitingexamples

is herappearanceattheupcomingWE

Day,a televisedcelebrationhighlighting

positivesocialchange,airingAugust 9,

2019, on ABC at 8PM EST.