Ronesha D. Dennis remembers her first real coding experience as creating a fan website for her then-favorite artist, Lil Bow Wow, at around 11 years old. From the challenging moments of building the site to finally seeing it work, Ronesha found joy in creating something that could be shared with people all around the world.   ​​

In the 20+ years since, Ronesha's love for coding has evolved. She worked for several years at a consulting firm that allowed her to grow her development, project management, and leadership skills, eventually managing junior engineers and working with international clients. In 2023, Ronesha began offering software engineer services through her company, Bergeron-Woodley.

 

While actively working as a software engineer, Ronesha also prioritizes finding time to interact with youth who are interested in STEM.​ Ronesha has taught the fundamentals of coding to children ages 5 to 8, and ages 13 to 16 while working as a lead instructor with Generation Code in Virginia and Washington, D.C. She has also taught Python to teen girls ages 13 to 17 while working as a lead instructor with Black Girls Code in Chicago. Most recently, Ronesha worked closely with a select group of college sophomores to prepare them for internships at SalesForce with CodePath in San Francisco.

 

The one consistency Ronesha found with all of her students was that the earlier their exposure to coding happened, the more confident they were in their abilities to code and to problem-solve. Thus, the vision for Coding with Cornell was born. With Coding with Cornell, Ronesha hopes to expose the youngest members of our community to coding, so that as they grow, they have unshakable confidence in their abilities.