A self-taught web developer, Garcia started at web development and social good at Do Something, a social cause marketing organization working on cause campaigns ranging from arts education to homelessness.

She is now the Developer Evangelist at Squarespace and co-founder of CoderDojo NYC, a non-profit dedicated to improve the lives of young children and teens by teaching them web, game and app development. She is the former CTO of Greatist, a health fitness and wellness media startup.

In 2013, Garcia received the U.S. White House Champion of Change for ‘Tech Inclusion’ award for her efforts to bring STEM education to underrepresented communities and for publishing ‘The Next Generation of Creators in Tech’.

Her journey into technology began through front-end web development, and interest in HTML & CSS and strategy video games. During middle school, her sister sponsored her to attend a summer program at MIT where she learned her side passion–making websites. Garcia then went on to teach at that same summer program at MIT, where she was inspired to start CoderDojo NYC.

“Our mission at CoderDojo NYC is to make technology education free and open to youth, as part of the larger CoderDojo movement that began in Ireland. Currently there are over 300 chapters in 30 countries around the globe. This led me to consulting remotely for the Hello World Foundation in Ireland to help provide resources to empower youth in becoming creators not consumers through tech.”

Read a complete interview with Rebecca Garcia at Geekettes