Coding Was Just the Beginning: Karlie Kloss Is Now Showing Girls They Can Be *Anything* They Want

Photo: Annalora von Pentz
Fashion icon-turned-coding connoisseur Karlie Kloss has gone from stomping her way down the runway to knocking down barriers for women in male-dominated industries. Through her nonprofit, Kode With Klossy, the ex-Victoria's Secret model has initiated a *major* feminine shift in the tech world: This year alone, her camp will teach 1,000 girls between the ages of 13 and 18 the basics of coding language. But she's nowhere near done.

In partnership with Ford, Kloss has set out to champion women in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) in a brand-new, four-part video series starring seriously inspiring women who are breaking into the boys-club fields of food, space, gaming, and mobility, including former NASA astronaut Cady Coleman (NBD) and Lina Pruitt, senior project engineer at Beyond Meat (home of the Leo DiCaprio-approved plant-based burger). Why? Because Kloss believes creating visibility for earth-shaking ladies is one powerful way to inspire young women to follow in their footsteps.

Not every girl will have an inspiring biology teacher, rocket-scientist neighbor, or tech-geek babysitter. Instead, they might have Kloss.

The mantra we often hear, Kloss says, is: You can't be what you can't see. "This is just the idea that if you don’t directly have in your life a teacher, or a parent, or a friend’s parent who works in these industries...you might not realize all that's possible with science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics," she says.

But realistically, not every girl will have an inspiring biology teacher, rocket-scientist neighbor, or tech-geek babysitter. Instead, they might have Kloss—and now, by extension, the trail-blazing women she's meeting.

"I wanted to share their stories of how they got there, how they overcame or defied the odds to be one of the few women who are leading in these industries and are paving the way for their next generation," says Kloss of the mission behind this series. Soon, she hopes, "'You can't be what you can't see' won't exist," because women will be seen, in equal number as men in every industry.

Other #WomenCrushWednesday-worthy ladies: Emma Watson and (duh) Oprah.

Loading More Posts...