Funding Dreams: How Ruthe Farmer’s Last Mile Education Fund Helps Tech Students in Need

On this episode of “B The Way Forward,” host Brenda Darden Wilkerson is joined by Ruthe Farmer, activist and policymaker, who has trailblazed a path toward increasing diversity, building inclusion, and prioritizing gender equity in technology. In Ruthe’s illustrious career, she has leveraged successful and current infrastructures to promote girls’ and womens’ participation in these fields. Ruthe continues to be a champion in this space – ushering in, and supporting, a new wave of women in technology. Ruthe’s advocacy work led her to found “The Last Mile Education Fund”, a gap-fund organization that invests in individuals already committed to STEM careers, by supporting them when unconventional circumstances challenge them otherwise.

Ruthe shares the true battles women face while in higher education today – and spoiler alert, most of the time it isn’t in the classroom! The intimate stories of the lives touched by the Last Mile Education Fund help inform educational institutions, employers, and recruiters, about the daily challenges students are faced with before entering the professional workforce. With the average grant request being $956, it reveals how a little in someone’s world can be so impactful in another’s. Brenda and Ruthe’s conversation offers a broader perspective on how we can encourage young technologists to continue on their successful paths, starting with empathy and understanding.

“Just last week we got a donation from a grantee and she said, ‘I’m happy to be now a donor instead of a grantee, please pay it forward on my behalf,’ and it really is a virtuous circle that is not only going to bring up the diversity of computing, but increase economic mobility for underrepresented people, but it’s also incubating givers. And putting people into the ecosystem who are just the kind of people who are grateful and they want to pay it forward and pull the others up behind them.”

For more about Ruthe and the work of The Last Mile Education Fund, check out…

LinkedIn – /RutheF & /lastmilefund

Facebook – /LastMileFund

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At AnitaB.org, we envision a future where the people who imagine and build technology mirror the people and societies for whom they build it. Find out more about how we support women, non-binary individuals, and other underrepresented groups in computing, as well as the organizations that employ them and the academic institutions training the next generations.

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Our guests contribute to this podcast in their personal capacity. The views expressed in this interview are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology or its employees (“AnitaB.org”). AnitaB.org is not responsible for and does not verify the accuracy of the information provided in the podcast series. The primary purpose of this podcast is to educate and inform. This podcast series does not constitute legal or other professional advice or services.

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B The Way Forward Is…

Produced by Dominique Ferrari and Paige Hymson

Sound design and editing by Neil Innes and Ryan Hammond 

Mixing and mastering by Julian Kwasneski 

Associate Producer is Faith Krogulecki

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