Tom Gutnick
Instructor

I’m the proprietor of Sunny Banana IT Consulting and I teach IT courses at Northern Virginia Community College. Over the years, I’ve been a programmer, software development manager, data center manager, performance and capacity planning consultant, cybersecurity consultant, and more. I love having a career where I get to play with toys all the time.

When I’m not helping others to harness appropriate technology, I stay sane by creating good food (I’m the family cook) and creating music (both playing and composing). As an undergraduate, it always bothered me how few women were in my computer classes, and it still bothers me when I’m at tech conferences or judging a local high school science fair. So I’m thrilled to be teaching for Girls Who Code for my ninth summer — it’s my way of supporting girl power!

Rebecca Zipper
Lead Teaching Assistant

Hi! I’m Rebecca Zipper. I just graduated Muhlenberg College with a BS in Computer Science and English/Creative Writing. My professional goal is to continue to advocate for equality not only in STEM fields but in the wider world while doing something in software engineering or data analytics. Other than coding, I love singing musical theater, playing my guitar, baking, and writing.

Sophie Eng
Teaching Assistant

Hi! My name is Sophie Eng and I’m from the Bay Area. I am a rising junior at Wesleyan University, double majoring in Economics and Computer Science. Outside of Girls Who Code, I am a software developer for a cybersecurity research lab, which produces a web extension to protect user privacy and data. While I learned to code in high school, I continue to code because I enjoy problem solving and using my intuition! I hope to explore the intersections of Finance and Technology as I pursue my professional interests. I also love to dance, backpack, and listen to Taylor Swift!

Advika Rajeev
Teaching Assistant

I’m Advika Rajeev, and I’m an undergraduate student at Rice University majoring in computer science and minoring in neuroscience and data science. I’m interested in the intersection of technology and medicine, particularly in the areas of machine learning and brain computer interface technology. Apart from coding, I love to dance bharatanatyam, draw portraits, read, and listen to music!

Cathrine Sakin
Teaching Assistant

Cathrine Sakin is a Mechanical Engineering (aerospace focus) and Woman and Gender Studies double major student at the Rochester Institute of Technology. This summer (2023) she worked as a Teacher Assistant at the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program in the Software.Org sponsored classroom. She helped students navigate their way through various platforms and novel concepts, including the use of Replit, p5play, general programming logic, and debugging. All while emphasizing real world applications and sisterhood. Cathrine chose this line of work because “[her] values of bravery, sisterhood, and activism are perfectly aligned with the mission of GWC, and [she] would never miss such an amazing opportunity to give back to her community of women in STEM!”

Yojita Sharma
Teaching Assistant

Linda Okerulu
Site Lead