West Philadelphia born and raised, Ashana “Bella” Davenport moved to San Francisco at the age of 17 after being homeless. With nothing to lose and everything to learn, Bella discovered computer science from the numerous engineers around her. Not being aware of what it takes in STEM or the diversity gaps, she grasped the concept of being a creator and began to self teach. “No regrets, no excuses” is Bella’s motto, by tapping into her left brain more than ever she decided to go to the University of San Francisco where she majored in Computer Science. Freshman year Bella was contacted by Yahoo for their interest in her possibly taking a summer internship. Without having to think hard, Bella turned down the opportunity to stay with her previous internship at Black Girls CODE.
BGC is a non-profit organization that teaches underrepresented girls ages 7-17 computer coding, robotics and engineering. Bella’s state of mind during the decision making process was “I can’t go on, with generations of women to come, not being given the opportunities that should be available to them.” Bella is now the Vice President of the Women in Computer Science club on her campus and a teaching assistant in her department.