We grabbed her for a chat and thought that what she shared was too important to keep to ourselves – read on for her story, and for advice she has for kids about finding their path and putting themselves out there.

What got you interested in diversity and inclusion?

“It started back when I was in university and lived overseas. Through these experiences, I learnt more about the value of different opinions and perspectives and how they are needed to create better ideas – especially in Singapore, with people who come from distinct backgrounds.

I also come from a social justice perspective: it’s important to ensure under-served and under-represented communities have their voices heard. At Google, we look at female representation, and track whether different races are represented. And when I first started getting interested in inclusion, I looked at the Malay community and how it is underserved and underrepresented in many areas of service.

My time as a teacher also made me realise the value of having different people work together. You want children to build a habit of being with people who don’t necessarily look like them or think like them. It’s important to push children out of their comfort zone so that they don’t form exclusive cliques, or unintentionally create echo chambers.

How does diversity make a difference in the work that you do now at Google?

“Here’s a simple example from work about why diversity matters: When we first created YouTube Mobile, 25% of the videos were uploaded upside down. Many of us thought it was a bug, but we soon realised it was because 25% of the videos were recorded by left-handers. The way you orient your phone affects how videos turn out – something so basic didn’t occur to us. But even the simple consideration of people being right or left-handed is important in creating a product.

Different perspectives can contribute to a better idea in STEM. Many people think that robotics is very black and white; but STEM isn’t a dehumanised form because we create it.

A robot or an app is influenced by humans behind them. The people building the tool and structure together is very important because there are different ways of thinking and blindspots we may not notice on our own.”

Do you have any advice for kids growing up today?

1. Look and ask for help when you need it.

   When you’re young and you don’t see people who look like you in certain spaces, you don’t know where to start or to find help. You can always ask your teachers, seniors, or counsellors for advice and how to go about doing something.

   

   Learn to be resourceful and look for help. Make sure you ask questions. Be curious and put in the work. Be resilient and excellent while doing that and that will get you far. To be resilient and excellent, you need people to help you open doors. Especially when you’re young, you think that you need to do everything alone, but that’s not true. You just have to ask.

    

2. Get to know people who aren’t from the same school as you.
   

   It’s so important to gain insights from people from other backgrounds and from those who don’t have the same views as you.

   Always try to be around people who don’t look like you and think like you, because that’s when you’ll get to learn. 

3. Encourage others to speak up.

Many kids are shy and reserved, and hence don’t dare to voice out their thoughts. If kids were to be more welcoming and understanding towards others, they can then speak up more comfortably. They can feel like their voice wants to be heard. When you get many opinions and views, more ideas can come together and you can then work better together.”

. . .

This interview was authored by Jay-Lynn and Bia, interns at Saturday Kids, inspired by their experience volunteering at the VEX Robotics Kid-Powered Workshop, a robotics workshop designed to make robotics more inclusive to kids from different backgrounds. If you’re curious about making tech more inclusive – starting with kids – check out Code in the Community, an initiative sponsored by Google and IMDA to bring free coding classes to kids from disadvantaged backgrounds.

You can read more from Atikah here on her blog or follow her on Instagram.

The post Big Kids We Love: Atikah Amalina –  Googler and Diversity Advocate appeared first on Saturday Kids | Coding, Digital Literacy for Kids & Parents.

Hi there! I’m Si Hui, and here’s some background information about me:

1. I’m a motion graphics designer at Saturday Kids.
2. I don’t code (I’m trying to!).
3. I have the personality of a lobster.

So how did a socially-awkward motion designer with little to no programming experience end up volunteering as an assistant instructor for Code in the Community?

That’s me in the background!

It started with Shreya and Michael jokingly asking if anyone at Saturday Kids wanted to help out with the Scratch classes. Teaching has always been an interest of mine, but I’ve never given it serious consideration. I decided I had nothing to lose by trying it out, and I’m glad I took the plunge.

The most stressful part of the entire process was probably applying to be a volunteer. It was a busy period for me — juggling work, two travel itineraries and learning how to use Scratch turned out to be pretty challenging. For the Scratch volunteer application, we had to create an ‘Avoid the Falling Objects’ game. I got carried away while exploring Scratch and went off-topic by building a ‘Catch the Falling Objects’ game instead. Oops. I ended up creating a second game that better adhered to the requirements.

Si Hui’s first and second Scratch games – pretty damn impressive for a first-timer.

Fast forward to Day 1 at Jurong Regional Library: “Wow, that’s a lot of kids, how are we going to manage?” was probably what I was thinking.

It was hectic, trying to get everyone’s name, asking parents if they’d be back to pick their kids up when the class ends, and low-key freaking out about sending a kid off with the wrong parent — all while other kids were streaming into the Pixel Lab. But it turns out that my worries were unfounded, thanks to the help provided by the library staff, our location coordinator, and all the volunteers. (Speaking of volunteers, I was stoked to find out that one of them was a kid, who is a beneficiary of a previous CITC run!)

Throughout the entire run, I got to witness lots of growth from the kids — Nirupan, who initially struggled with concepts, ended up helping and encouraging his friend who was feeling nervous before the presentation. Avya, who got over her fear of failure and built her project on her own at home. Aufa, who missed a class, had his Mom email us for help with his project. Shreenithi, who was terrified of speaking in front of a full room, yet didn’t shy away from presenting when it was her turn. The list goes on… but you get the idea.

It was extremely heart-warming to see the kids and their parents pour their time and dedication into the programme. Watching each child persevere and overcoming the various challenges they faced was inspiring — it kept me motivated and looking forward to each week’s session despite everything else that was on my plate.

You know how as we grow up, there are those little memories that stick with us throughout the years?

It could be a funny incident, an inspiring story, or even a simple compliment. I hope we were able to give the kids moments like these; experiences they can look back on fondly, that might even help shape them into better versions of themselves. I know that embarking on this journey has done that for me, and for that I am grateful.

Special thanks to everyone who helped out at Jurong Regional Library — you guys are wonderful, reliable people and I’m so lucky to have met and be part of such an amazingly dedicated team.

The Jurong Regional Library Code in the Community crew and kids! I’m the girl all the way on the left.

Psst! To any aspiring volunteers reading this, please don’t hesitate to sign up! If a social potato with no coding background was able to contribute, so can you. The next run of Code in the Community kicks off soon and the team is always looking for volunteers – find out more and sign up here!

. . .

We’re inspired by and grateful for volunteers like Si Hui who dedicate hours of their weekends to making an impact by getting kids excited about the potential of tech. If you’re curious about volunteering for Code in the Community, find out more on our website or write to us at here!

The post What I Learned from Volunteering with Code in the Community: Hear from Big Kid Si Hui appeared first on Saturday Kids | Coding, Digital Literacy for Kids & Parents.