2022 Award Recipient
GideonBuddenhagen
Project Leadership In Motion
Project Leadership In Motion
As a bi-racial Jew of color, Gideon is motivated to build equitable systems that lift up marginalized communities of color. After participating in Google’s Code Next computer science program, Gideon was inspired by instructors who looked like him. Seeing computer engineers of color thrive while supporting youth of similar identities led him to start Leadership in Motion.
The initiative aims to foster an interest in computer science among middle schoolers who may not typically be exposed to the field of technology and for high schoolers to develop leadership skills by creating opportunities to teach the next generation of ethnically diverse computer scientists. Leadership in Motion’s teenage mentors successfully taught nine weeks of computer coding curriculum to middle school students while developing formative personal leadership skills.
Gideon noticed a disconnect where students of color lacked access to technology education as well as mentors who looked like them. By creating Leadership in Motion, Gideon aimed to address this disparity, creating a pathway to leadership for older students and unique learning opportunities for younger students. Leadership in Motion’s successful pilot phase connected low-income middle school students with high school students of color for a nine-week technology education program with Google. His program is now being adopted under Google’s Code Next offerings.
