By Kate Milleker, Board Member, Code/Art
I’ve always known I wanted to work at the intersection of art and technology. I come from a family of tinkerers and makers. I started learning ceramics and fell in love with theater by age of five. My dad is a computer scientist and my Opa (grandfather) is an electrical engineer. Taking apart video game consoles and building 14’ tall LED Christmas trees is very normalized in my house.
But what I discovered along the way to becoming a creative technologist is that women and girls like me face far too much pushback on the path to a rewarding career. It’s why I’ve partnered with Code/Art, a nonprofit that introduces girls to computer science through art, offering coding competitions, creative coding programs, and professional development for teachers.
I’ve joined its Board of Directors and will participate at the upcoming Code/Art Fest on April 11, 2026 in Miami – to support the next generation of tech leaders.
How Art + Tech Education Accelerated My Career Opportunities
In high school, I was torn between studying technical theater and computer science (CS). I ended up doing both! I majored in computer science engineering and minored in scenic design at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
It wasn’t a smooth path. I was the only person doing theater in the CS department and the only CS engineer in the theater program and I faced a lot of pushback on my non-traditional approach. But I kept going. I carved out a niche in creative technology and eventually turned that passion into a career.
Today, I’m a Senior Creative Technologist at George P. Johnson Experience Marketing where I build interactive, immersive, and digital experiences for companies such as Cisco, Salesforce, and Adobe.
Over the course of my career I’ve led software development and technical production for theme parks, museum exhibits, art installations, and trade shows.
One of my favorite projects was the Bowser Jr. Shadow Showdown experience at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Super Nintendo World. I rebuilt the entire skeleton tracking platform for that experience and was able to attend the first opening day of the park. There’s nothing like standing in the back of the theater and watching kids have the time of their life shooting fireballs just by using their arm movements. That moment of delight and immersion when technology seems like magic is exactly why I love creative technology.
This past year, I went back to my high school for the first time in over a decade and talked to one of my old teachers. I told her what I was doing now and she remarked, “Wow, you actually did it!” It was a great moment to reflect on how far I’ve come on this journey.
Yet none of these experiences would have happened without early exposure, mentorship, and the creative freedom to explore tech on my own terms. That’s exactly what Code/Art brings to girls through its programs—inviting them into tech early, surrounding them with inspiring female role models, and giving them space to create, experiment, and see themselves as technologists. So when Code/Art invited me to join its Board of Directors recently, it was a no-brainer to say yes.
An Inflection Point For Future Tech Leaders
When I think about the next generation of girls in tech, I feel both excitement and a sense of urgency. I’ve worked full-time at experiential agencies since 2019, and I’ve only worked with one other woman engineer as of this writing. For too many girls, the field of technology feels opaque, inaccessible, and risky. Many don’t even know tech is an option for them.
Code/Art is changing that. My journey with Code/Art started with a cold LinkedIn message in 2023 while I was working at Envoy (formerly Leviathan). Code/Art founder and then-CEO Amy Austin Renshaw reached out looking for help on a digital gallery wall experience. I helped Envoy build the wall as the lead developer.
From there, I stayed personally connected to Code/Art through workshops, speaking engagements, and grantmaking. So when the invitation came to join the Board in 2025, I was thrilled to have even more opportunities to share my experiences merging art and technology and help Code/Art educate and inspire the next generation of creative technologists.
Code/Art exposes more young artists and art teachers to computer programming through art. It also deepens skills in, and facilitates conversations about, exciting emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). Code/Art recognizes better than anyone that the best technologists are the ones who bring distinctly human skills to their programming work: critical thinking, creative problem-solving, teamwork, communication, and so on.
Despite the rise of AI and its effect on the programming landscape, there’s still so much stewardship we humans have to do to make something that’s meaningful and worthwhile. That’s what Code/Art is teaching young people through art and creativity. And it works. Nearly all girls leave Code/Art seeing themselves as coders. Over 85% say they want to keep going.
What Makes Code/Art A Key Tech Industry Partner
How are those kinds of outcomes possible? At least three important ingredients make up Code/Art’s secret sauce:
1. Access For Girls: First, Code/Art reaches girls who might never set foot in a traditional computer science classroom by using art as an accessible entry point. It helps demystify technology, build confidence, and make coding feel personal through imaginative and expressive projects. Students expand their identities through code and see themselves as future technologists.
2. Art Educator Support: Second, Code/Art trains art teachers to integrate coding into their classrooms. I love Code/Art’s mission of “bringing art into CS classrooms, and CS into art classrooms.” Art teachers are frequently among the last people to get the funding and resources they need. Through teacher training programs, Code/Art addresses a major gap by helping educators cultivate a practice of blending art and tech year-round rather than relegating this type of specialized instruction to summers or after-school sessions.
3. Coding Program Integration: Third, Code/Art builds their programs to be easily integrated into other existing programs. For example, several of the teachers they have trained use Code/Art lessons in their existing Girls Who Code Clubs.
I’m actively talking to educators and nonprofits in Chicago about interfacing with Code/Art coding competitions and working with Code/Art to help bring their programs to Chicago area teachers and students.
Code/Art’s coding competitions and other programs are both additive and complementary to the tech industry’s existing diverse workforce development initiatives. They represent the kind of systemic change we need and are growing nationally to meet the needs of our communities.
An Invitation To Meet Tech’s Future Leaders And Invest In Their Success
On April 11, 2026, we’ll host the 11th annual Code/Art Fest at Miami Dade College – West Campus in Miami, Florida. I’ll bring an interactive installation including a demo of my personal side project called HOTDOG HOTDOG, which is a show series inspired by the Chicago-style hot dog.
It’s got a five-octave MIDI keyboard where each key is tied to a different video clip and visual effect, and it’s audio-reactive. You can have fun making your own hot dog composition and walk away feeling excited and inspired.
This is my first Code/Art event, and I can’t wait! There’s nothing like being in a room full of young women who are just now getting excited about the industry. That infectious energy is what got me through CS in college.
When girls get to make a project, show it off to their family and friends, and walk away with a tactile memento, it’s extremely rewarding to watch them discover a new passion. That moment of saying, “I made a thing, and it’s really cool!,” shows them anything is possible. Creating with code makes them more confident and proves to them that they can do things boldly.
Code/Art finds gaps at the intersection of art and tech, fills them, and strengthens the broader movement of improving diversity in technology. They’re an important strategic partner for the future of our industry.
If you’ve been waiting for a sign to invest in girls, in creative tech, and in a scalable model that meets the AI moment, this is it. Code/Art doesn’t need to be built. It already exists. It just needs fuel.
Now, we need to reach more teachers, support more girls, and make sure this model scales while holding onto what makes it magical.
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Kate Milleker is a Board Member at Code/Art and Senior Creative Technologist at George P. Johnson Experience Marketing. She brings a decade of experience building interactive software for events, museums, and installations. She’ll be showcasing an digital art installation and speaking with the Teen Track at the 11th annual Code/Art Fest on April 11, 2026, in Miami. Connect with her at katemilleker.com, on LinkedIn, and @katemilleker on Instagram.
