Kapor and Constellations Connecting Atlanta’s CS Equity Community

A philanthropic donation is helping Georgia Tech’s Constellations Center for Equity in Computing expand access to computer science (CS) education for students statewide.

The Kapor Center is an Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit. Its recent donation allowed Constellations to hire Bryan Cox, one of Georgia’s most notable computing equity champions, as its newest senior research associate.

As the Constellations Center’s Kapor Fellow, Cox is charged with uniting the city of Atlanta’s CS equity community through CS equity hubs. 

Kapor’s mission for these hubs is to connect and support Atlanta’s CS community to fill equity and educational gaps in the CS pipeline.

Each equity hub consists of leaders across higher education, K-12, government, and tech who will work collaboratively to close the equity and educational gaps that Georgia students are experiencing. These hubs are connected through Constellations to create the CS equity ecosystem that Kapor envisions with Cox as the extension cord.

Cox will work with local and regional leaders from the tech, education, and government industries to serve as the steering committee to help him maintain the vision across the hubs.

“My role is to create cohesion and ensure that all voices are heard, experienced, and included in the decision-making process. If our society is going to move forward as a whole, then our tech ecosystem must be efficient, effective, and inclusive,” said Cox.

Cox’s career in CS education spans nearly 20 years and multiple industries. As a CS program specialist with the Georgia Department of Education for over seven years, Cox helped develop curriculum and policy for K-12 public schools.

With such an impactful career as an equity champion, Cox has an impressive list of competencies and connections that make him the ideal candidate to connect Kapor’s vision with Constellations’ mission.

“Technology impacts every aspect of our society at this point. If we’re not doing it efficiently, then we’re going to create impractical solutions and marginalize people out of the space,” said Cox.

Constellations' mission has been consistent since the center was founded in 2017. It works to democratize computing, foster an engaged citizenry, and achieve educational justice.

The Kapor Center works with organizations that aim to close the equity gaps in computing across race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Their general stance is to support organizations already working in the space to provide a more significant impact by creating or funding additional programming. 

“There has been significant progress across the state of Georgia. People are doing amazing work in teacher preparation and leading computer science education in schools,” said Allison Scott, Kapor’s CEO.

“Despite these efforts, however, significant equity gaps persist. Not all students have access to computer science courses. We see the ecosystem approach as the next phase of our work.”

Photos by Kevin Beasley/College of Computing