Niesha Butler Opens First Afro-Latina-Owned Stem Center In Brooklyn
Earlier this month, former WNBA basketball player and software engineer Niesha Butler started her camp program at the first Afro-Latina-owned STEM education center for kids interested in coding and robotics in Brooklyn according to BK Reader.
The center S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) Champs had its grand opening on July 16. The center is now open for training and other activities available for kids aged 6 and up.
The Brooklyn native told the news outlet, “When I was growing up, you either had to hustle, or you had to play sports to get out.”
The program will allow inner-city youth to start learning about game/app development, coding, and robotics while they’re still in school.
“If a kid could actually say that they can be LeBron James, and roll it off their tongue as easy as that, then they can literally say ‘yeah, I can also put a man on the moon,’ or ‘I can also create the next app,’” Butler told ABC News.
Butler says she launched S.T.E.A.M. Champs center because “there’s talent in Brooklyn.”
She added, “There’s not a lot of people of color in tech. These jobs are open for everybody and they’re empty…so obviously we need to do a better job at educating our kids and in recruiting them.”
The former CBS radio sports reporter, dedicated the center to her mother, who she recently lost.
“This means a lot, not only for me personally but all the people are looking at me and in my community,” she said.
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