Girls Who Code Welcomes New Board Members, This Fall

Hari Gopalkrishnan, Chief Information Officer of Retail, Preferred, Small Business, and Wealth Technology at Bank of America, and Pawan Verma, Executive Vice President & Global Chief Information Officer at MetLife, join Board of Directors

NEW YORK, NY – (November 1, 2022) - Today, Girls Who Code, an international nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in tech, announced additions to its Board of Directors. This announcement coincides with the organization’s 10th-anniversary celebration and commitment to serving 1 million students in the next decade of work.

Hari Gopalkrishnan, Chief Information Officer of Retail, Preferred, Small Business, and Wealth Technology at Bank of America, and Pawan Verma, Executive Vice President & Global Chief Information Officer at MetLife, will join the Board as new members.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Hari and Pawan to our team as we aim to support the most marginalized students in our country, offering them education access and the tools they need to succeed in their tech career,” said Dr. Tarika Barrett, CEO of Girls Who Code. “They have demonstrated their passion for our mission to close the gender gap in tech throughout their careers. Their insight and leadership will be invaluable as we enter the next phase of our organization’s work.”

“It is never too early to start encouraging girls to believe that they belong in computer science and pursue a passion for making a big impact in society as a technologist,” shared Hari Gopalkrishnan. “I am proud to join the Girls Who Code Board and support their mission to educate girls about the infinite career opportunities within technology and help close the gender gap within the field.”

“We have to be intentional about nurturing a diverse talent pipeline and removing roadblocks — the ones we see and the ones that may be silent barriers,” said Pawan Verma. “I can’t think of a greater way to give back, work toward closing the gender gap, and help shape the future of our industry.”

“It’s an honor to have Pawan and Hari join our Board and help make tech education more accessible to our most vulnerable students,“ said Carol Juel, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology and Operating Officer at Synchrony & Chair of Girls Who Code’s Board of Directors. “I, along with the other members of the Board, look forward to collaborating with them and harnessing their expertise to help grow an organization that has already sparked a passion for tech in thousands of students.”

Since 2012, Girls Who Code has served 500,000 students and has 115,000 college and career-aged alumni – half of whom come from historically underrepresented groups in tech. All Girls Who Code programs and initiatives are created to support students in every step of their educational and tech journeys.

About Hari Gopalkrishnan

Hari Gopalkrishnan leads Retail, Preferred, Small Business, and Wealth Management Technology at Bank of America. His team of more than 17,000 is responsible for providing integrated technology solutions to the company’s approximately 66 million consumer and small business relationships and 2 million wealth management clients; which include delivering capabilities across channels (online, mobile, ATM, contact center, voice, and conversational commerce), payments and merchant services, and investment and banking product platforms. Hari holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan. He is a passionate champion for diversity and inclusion at Bank of America. Currently, He serves as co-Executive Sponsor for the bank’s Asian Leadership Network (ALN) and is a member of several enterprise diversity networks.

About Pawan Verma

Pawan Verma is the global chief information officer of MetLife Inc. In this role, he oversees a team of more than 11,000 technologists and has responsibility for leading software development, digital customer experience, technology strategy, architecture, and shared technology platforms to drive remarkable customer experiences that differentiate the Company. Verma joined MetLife in November 2020 from Footlocker, Inc. and served as the global information and customer experience officer for five years. He was responsible for transforming the technology, data, and supply chain ecosystems and creating cloud-based, connected omnichannel customer journeys across stores, the web, and mobile to serve millions globally. Before this, Verma held technology leadership positions at Target Corp., Convergys Corporation, and Verizon Wireless.

Forbes has recognized Verma with the 2019 CIO Innovation Award. He is a Board and founding member of TechPACT, an organization committed to addressing inequality in the technology space, MetLife’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Council member, and a sponsor of MetLife’s Girls Who Code program. Verma holds a B.S. in mathematics from Dr. Hari Singh Gour University, an M.S. in computer application and software engineering from Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in India, and an MBA from Kent State University, Ohio.

About Girls Who Code

Girls Who Code is an international nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in technology, and leading the movement to inspire, educate, and equip students who identify as girls or nonbinary with the computing skills needed to pursue 21st-century opportunities. Since launching in 2012, Girls Who Code has reached 500,000 students through in-person and virtual programming, and 115,000 of our alumni are college or career-aged.

Girls Who Code has sparked culture change through marketing campaigns and advocacy efforts, generating 14 billion engagements globally. In 2019, the organization was named the #1 Most Innovative Non-Profit on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list, and in 2022 was named one of NonProfit Times’ Best Nonprofits to Work For.

Follow the organization on social media @GirlsWhoCode.