What Losing an Election Taught the Founder of Girls Who Code About Bravery

#AlphaRising went to the Girls Who Code offices to learn how it all started and what girls need to do to become our country's next leaders.

Girls Who Code's founder didn't even know how to code when she launched her organization, which is now 40,000 girls strong.

"I just knew I wanted to give back," Reshma Saujani said.

 

Listen to the #AlphaRising podcast with Reshma Saujani here!

 

And it all started because she lost in a New York Democratic Congressional race -- and she lost pretty badly.

"But losing that congressional race was the bravest thing I ever did," Saujani said. "Because, oh my God, I didn't die."

Girls Who Code is on a mission to get every girl coding. "You're going to need to learn how to code to survive the 21^st century.  That's just a fact," Saujani said.  So with 80 summer immersion programs in companies like Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) , Facebook Inc. (FB) , AT&T Inc. (T) , Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) - she is well on her way to do just that.

So listen in and hear her inspirational story.

And for more from Tracy Byrnes and Alpha Rising, watch:

• How Deirdre Imus Is Changing Lives, One Plastic Bottle at a Time
• VZ Wireless Chief Network Officer: The U.S. Needs More Women in Tech to Succeed
• More Girls Need to Be in Tech and Engineering, says VZ Wireless CNO
• Sallie Krawcheck: Inertia Causes Women to Miss Years of Compounding
• Welcome to the Inaugural Alpha Rising Podcast!
• President of Mars Wrigley U.S. Tells Us the Worst Advice She Ever Got