All Star Code empowers young men with the skills, networks, and mindsets they need to create new futures through technology. We work towards building a world where every young man has the confidence to dare greatly, the safety to celebrate failure, and the freedom to tell his story.
I am Christina Lewis Halpern, founder of All Star Code. The month before my father died, he named me to the board of his foundation. I was only 12 years old. Since then, I’ve dedicated myself to supporting causes that helped the black community and other historically-oppressed peoples. As a professional business journalist, I had a front row seat to observing the growth in income inequality. I saw how those with assets reaped seemingly ever-increasing rewards. And I realized that if my father were a young man today, he would no doubt be working in technology, the growth industry for building wealth in the 21st century. With that notion in mind, I began investigating ways to help minority talent gain access to the tech world. While I discovered a number of programs that addressed the lack of women in the industry, I did not find a sufficient number of resources for young men of color. So after conversations with over 150 professionals in the education, non-profit, philanthropic and technology spaces, All Star Code was born. In honor of my father’s legacy — and everyone else who has fought for equal rights — I created this program to help the next generation of youth catch the next wave of opportunity. I envision All Star Code to be a program that can give young, intelligent, driven men of color access to this exciting and dynamic field.
