WHat is CS for All Washington?

CS for All Washington is an advocacy group that has a single goal:

Ensure that the diversity of students participating in CS education at all levels reflects the diversity of people in Washington state, in all of the unique ways that race, gender, ability, geography, and sovereignty interact.

We try to achieve this through two strategies:

• Organize information about CS education at all levels — K-12, higher education, camps, clubs, bootcamps and more — helping everyone involved in these efforts see how we are connected, find opportunities to connect and collaborate, and prevent siloing and redundancy.

• Organizing people in the state working in CS education at all levels, to prevent isolation, find community, and facilitate coordination of broader efforts.

Our current activities involve three things:

• This website. The purpose of the site is to curate semi-stable information about activities in the state, so that everyone in the state has a fresh overview of what's happening. This is key to helping newcomers in our community and state quickly understand what's happening.

• Our (forthcoming) newsletter. The purpose of the newsletter is create a space for everyone to share what's happening and learn what's happening, and also for us to have a way to reach everyone, when we need to come together to plan events or advocate to the state or organizations. Some of the content shared may become part of the website. When the newsletter is working, it should create a virtuous cycle of sharing and shared awareness.

• Our (forthcoming) Slack. The purpose of the Slack is to coordinate. Volunteers need to collaborate on projects, coordinate meetups, or have conversions about current events. The Slack is where we do it. Our vision is to have everyone in Washington state connected to CS education in any way to be there, if they want to interact.

We expect many other activities to emerge from the three things above, such as social events, testimony to the state legislature, etc.

Note: we are not a business, school, lobbying group, or a government organization, but rather a community that connects all of these things. That means that you can help, if you can spare an hour a week. Check out the volunteer page for ways to help!

Lastly, we are connected to (but not funded by), a National Science Foundation project called Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP). ECEP is an alliance of 23 states and the territory of Puerto Rico that is working to increase the number and diversity of students in computing and K-16 computing education pathways through advocacy and policy reform efforts. ECEP connects us to teams and communities in other states, sharing best practices, so that we can do our community organizing better.

Want to reach us? Visit our contact page for how.

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