To AppNexus, From a Girl Who Codes
This post was written by Adriana Chavez, a participant in this year’s Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program at AppNexus.
In the spring of 2017 I was accepted into the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program. I scanned my acceptance letter and saw the name of the host company I would be spending more than 250 hours of my summer with: AppNexus.
Before this summer began, I had a solid exposure to tech — I’d attended a handful of tech conferences, interned at a few startups, and am currently a writer for a tech company based out of London — but I hadn’t had many hands-on interactions with major tech corporations or the people who operate them.
I could also describe what I knew about AppNexus in exactly two words: “Advertisements” and “Orange.”
But after some research, I learned how prominent AppNexus is in the advertising industry and in the NYC startup scene. That, combined with the tech industry’s less-than-sterling reputation for gender relations, almost made me suspicious — when you hear that a unicorn startup has agreed to host 20 girls for seven weeks so they can learn computer science, your eyebrows rise, and you can’t help but wonder if this deal has come about reluctantly.
On the very first day of the program, AppNexus co-founder and CEO Brian O’Kelley personally welcomed the Girls Who Code students and teaching team to AppNexus. I could see the light in his eyes when he talked about the Girls Who Code mission, and how genuinely excited he was to have us at AppNexus for the summer. It was then when I realized this partnership wasn’t just for the good press.
That day-one realization proved to be correct. AppNexus hasn’t just accepted GWC into their workplace — they’ve embraced us with open arms. As a Girl Who Codes, I feel part of the AppNexus family. I wave to employees in the hallway; I know many by name. It isn’t uncommon for AppNexians to sit down with a group of us girls during lunch and strike up a conversation. All of the employees are genuinely interested in hearing about what we’re doing in the program. We came in seeing these people as demigod-like examples of Real-Life Coders, but now we see them more as friends — they’re always excited to hear about the robots we’re programming and how we’re integrating Python code into our final projects.
Being at AppNexus has made my experience at Girls Who Code what it is. AppNexus didn’t stop their hospitality towards us on the first day of the program. Since then, we’ve been spoiled with a scavenger hunt around the office, one-on-one mentorships with some of the wonderful women who work at AppNexus, and kitchens filled with snacks and sodas to keep us full for days.
But what’s really amazed me is how accessible everyone is. I’ve had conversations with the company’s CEO, Brian O’Kelley, with VP of Engineering Theresa Vu, with Chief Data Scientist Catherine Williams, and many others throughout the summer. The value I’ve gained from my time at AppNexus is incomparable — learning from so many important figures in tech in such a condensed period of time while you’re still in high school is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
AppNexus has become like a second home for me, and I couldn’t imagine being a Girls Who Code student anywhere else.
Over the course of the program, I’ve heard every single one of my classmates say at least once about AppNexus, “I want to work here.” It has become an inside joke within my class to ask AppNexus employees what their favorite part of being at the company is, because their answer is always the same: “The people.” I couldn’t agree more, and that’s why when I graduate as a proud alumna of the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program, I know I won’t really be leaving. Because in two years, as soon as spring rolls around my freshman year of college, the first thing on my to-do list will be to apply for an internship at AppNexus.
Originally published at imagirlwhocodes.com on August 21, 2017.
