Meet Alexis Cabrera | Executive Director of 9 Dots

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alexis Cabrera and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexis, what do you attribute your success to?
We are nothing without the people that support us. I don’t believe in sole successes or “one-man-wonders.” I guarantee anyone who has done anything worth talking about had someone in their corner. Even Einstein, who is so often perceived as a “Lone genius”, did not make his discoveries on his own. If you want to make an impact in this world, you first need an opportunity. Then you need passion. Then you need hard work. But even if you have the opportunity, the passion, and the drive, you will fail without support and community.

For me, community functions on two levels. On a large scale, it’s people coming together with respect and love, committing to a shared purpose. We quite literally could not serve all 10,000 of our students without the team of incredibly passionate and dedicated individuals that comprise the 9 Dots staff. Beyond the staff, we also need a vibrant network of donors and volunteers who believe in us enough to donate their time and money. Finally, we couldn’t do anything without the support of the 350 teachers we work with to deliver Computer Science curriculum to our students.

On a small scale, community is about having at least one other person in your corner who believes in you. Nothing has solidified this lesson in my career more than my journey to becoming Executive Director at 9 Dots. At the start of my career, I–a queer nonbinary mixed person– never imagined I would hold a leadership position like I do now. I had aspirations, of course, but they all stopped short of CEO or Executive Director. I simply didn’t see folks like myself in these kinds of positions growing up.

I’ll never forget the day when Josh, the founder of 9 Dots, told me he thought I should consider working toward a leadership position. I remember the way his words affected me– a glowing orb of determination swelling in my chest. I know now that this is what it feels like to have someone believe in me more than I believed in myself. Having someone in my corner like that made all the difference for me. It invigorated my work and gave me the motivation I needed to consistently and continuously challenge myself. Now here I am serving as the Executive Director of an organization I could never have even dreamed I would have the privilege of leading.

That is the power of having a support system–of having even just one person in your corner saying “hey, I think you could do this.” And that’s not the only example. I am so grateful to have had several deeply supportive mentors in my life that have helped me get to where I am today.

Unfortunately, there are massive disparities in who gets access to the resources, tools, language, skills, and people necessary to reach a position of influence. There’s a reason why historically marginalized folks often feel like we need permission from someone else to know that we are good enough. We see men like Einstein and Steve Jobs upheld in our society with the status of the lone genius and we think, “that doesn’t look like me.” I can’t tell you how many times I still hear the phrase “some have it and others don’t.” Our society is obsessed with the idea of innate born genius and it’s no surprise since that way of thinking is most beneficial to upholding the current oppressive power structures in place.

What we don’t get to see is how these men relied on hundreds, if not thousands, of people to achieve the things they accomplished.

The truth is that success is not a one-man show. No one person can accomplish anything great without the help of others – it’s community, support, and teamwork that make big things happen.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
For me, the work we do at 9 Dots is deeply personal.

About 10 years ago, I was told that “computer programming is not for girls like me.” Today—after working two jobs to put myself through undergrad; after serving in three different research positions and designing and coding my own research experiments; after learning Python, R, and self-learning JavaScript and HTML; after obtaining a Masters of Science from the University of Edinburgh; after teaching Computer Science with 9 Dots at four different schools across LA; after serving as Program Director and doubling the reach of that same Computer Science program ensuring that over 10,000 students from marginalized communities have access to a high-quality Computer Science education—I can confidently say that people “like me” are not just qualified, but made for computer programming.

Too often this is the story I hear, not just from women but from Black, Latinx Indigenous, People of Color, queer nonbinary folks, and those from economically disadvantaged households– all groups who have been historically excluded and systematically discouraged from STEM and CS.

It is abundantly clear that Computer Science (CS) and technology are assuming an ever more central role in our social, civic, and economic lives. For better or worse, this is the reality of our world today. Yet too many folks are being left out of the rooms where key design decisions about these technologies are being made. This leads to all sorts of negative consequences ranging from the annoying – auto-correct suggesting “he/him” pronouns when users mean “she”– to the downright life-threatening – facial recognition software that is used in policing and surveillance being significantly less accurate at identifying Black and Brown faces.

Getting more folks with diverse experiences to the tech table is an important step in ensuring the technologies produced are designed with our broader society in mind. Yet we know that the pipeline is leaky, with gaps starting as early as elementary school and low-income students and students of color remain underrepresented in CS education learning opportunities.

The work we do at 9 Dots directly addresses this problem. We create high quality CS opportunities for students in elementary school, targeting the youngest student populations and empowering them to see themselves as the technologists of tomorrow.

This has not been easy. As a non-profit, we are constantly in a resource constrained place, and it’s never easy to work within the education system at historically under-resourced schools. As a new leader myself, there have been many hurdles to navigate.

But then I think about the fact that right now we are serving around 10,000 students and over half of those students are at a school that already has a 9 Dots-built full K-6 Computer Science pathway. From Kindergarteners to 6th graders, these students are learning how to code. This represents real progress. Change that you can sink your teeth into.

At its core, 9 Dots represents the powerful belief that we can work together to create more equitable opportunities for the youth in our communities through access to a quality Computer Science education. As someone who has been told both explicitly and implicitly that Computer Science is not for me, I am incredibly honored and humbled to now head the organization whose entire mission is about flipping this script.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This is a tough one. There are so many great places! Since a lot of other folks have been recommending places in LA proper, I’ll recommend a few in Long Beach where I live. People who visit the area have to start their day off at Wide Eyes Open Palms for coffee. This is a local queer owned and operated coffee shop that makes incredible breakfast. From there you can head over to get your week’s worth of bread at the amazing Gusto’s Bakery–deemed by the NYT as a “a modern pandería” that is “challenging the idea of Eurocentric authority in the fine pastry realm.” I’d finish the day at the beach. For folks with furry friends, I’d head over to Rosie’s dog beach and then grab dinner on Broadway at Panxa Cocina.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have several amazing mentors in my life to support me on my career journey. I’d like to thank the women who have been instrumental in coaching me during my first year as Executive director: Danielle Gram, Ally Sprague, Sylvia Aguiñaga, Melissa Vitek, and Adanta Ahanonu. I’d like to thank Josh, the Founder of 9 Dots, and Amy Iorio, the former CEO, for continuing to commit their time and energy to our cause. I’d like to thank my data science mentor Sindhura Bandhakavi and my fundraising “ride-or-die” Adam Demuyakor. I’d like to thank the 9 Dots Board of Directors for their support and guidance as we grow our impact and reach. Finally, I’d like to thank the 9 Dots leadership team and staff. Without a doubt, all the credit for the work 9 Dots has accomplished goes to them!

Website: https://www.9dots.org/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexis-cabrera-90434aaa/