In this episode of The Outspoken Podcast, host Shana Cosgrove talks to Gretchen LeGrand, co-founder and CEO of Code in the Schools (CITS). Gretchen talks about how she co-founded Code in the Schools with her husband, Mike, the programs they offer and how they help prepare their students for future careers in tech. She also talks about how she went from being a psychotherapist to CEO of a computer science non-profit organization.

QUOTES

• “Computers are so integral to the world that we live in now and have changed everything we do. Every industry is affected by computing. And for students to go through 12 years of school without ever having a class that teaches them how a computer works, like how a person can create a program that makes a computer do all of these things that we have it do, how it does all this thinking work for us, that’s crazy to not have that, to not have that understanding.” -Gretchen LeGrand [16:52]
• “When you don’t have access to a computer science class in school or ever, how are you going to think like ‘I’m not that person. That I’m not a nerd. I’m not a geek that sits behind a computer all day and types out code. I’m a social person’ or ‘I’m whatever, whatever.’ It’s for everybody, right? But you never know that unless you have the opportunity.” -Gretchen LeGrand [24:59]
• “I think when you think about success, it’s not money or number of houses or cars, it’s about the lives that you’ve impacted.” -Shana Cosgrove [45:57]

TIMESTAMPS

• [00:04] Intro
• [02:00] Meet Gretchen LeGrand
• [05:30] Code in the Schools
• [12:07] The programs they use
• [14:21] How they choose courses they offer
• [16:38] Why a computer science education valuable
• [18:45] Classroom demographics and colleges they work with
• [22:38] Gretchen’s favorite success story
• [26:24] The slow burn to start an organization
• [30:12] How Gretchen met her husband
• [32:12] Starting Code in the Schools and going full-time
• [36:58] Raising money
• [38:01] The future of Code in the Schools
• [42:59] How CITS works with Girls Who Code and Black Girls Code
• [44:15] Being a leader and a recognized figure
• [48:27] Gretchen’s advice to start a non-profit or study computer science
• [51:13] Gretchen’s childhood dream job
• [54:32] What she wishes she did differently in her career
• [55:10] Her favorite book and professional book that has affected her
• [58:48] What she loves about Baltimore
• [59:58] How to get involved with CITS and what’s next
• [01:02:24] Outro

RESOURCES

• National Women’s Business Council
• Sparkypants Studios
• Digital Harbor Foundation
• The Y in Central Maryland
• St. Francis Learning Center
• Scratch
• Code.org
• Python
• Unity
• WordPress
• Java
• C++
• Morgan State University Department of Computer Science
• University of Maryland, Baltimore County Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
• University of Baltimore Simulation and Game Design
• University of Maryland, College Park
• Capitol Technology University
• Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
• The Oregon Trail
• The Brewer’s Art
• Zynga
• Girls Who Code
• Black Girls Code
• Gretchen listed in Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 class of 2019
• Center For Puppetry Arts
• Open Space Arts
• Avenue Q
• Into the Woods
• The Princess Bride virtual script reading
• The Princess Bride by William Goldman
• The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber

RELEVANT LINKS

• Code in the Schools website
• Code in the Schools on Facebook
• Code in the Schools on Twitter
• Code in the Schools on Instagram
• The Prodigy Program
• CodeWorks
• Gretchen LeGrand on LinkedIn
• Gretchen LeGrand on Twitter