Olubunmi Odejimi
Nigerian-born entrepreneur and mom, Bukola Somide, has recently written her name in the history book of black tech innovators, by inventing the first interactive African-American STEM Doll.
The doll which is called ‘Somi’ is the first to market interactive African-American STEM Doll which earned them 2022 ExCITE Innovation of the Year award presented by CodeCrew.
As the founder/CEO of Innovant Technologies based in Phoenix, Arizona, Bukola believes that cultivating innovative thinking in early childhood is important to uplifting our Black community.
The innovative mom said she was inspired by her daughter to create the STEM doll. The aim of this invention is to excite children, particularly Black girls, about learning Computer Science to bring change.
Somi is a 14-inch interactive doll created to make playtime both educational and entertaining for everyone from age three. The doll is fitted with 12 voice-overs that aid in teaching Computer Science in a fun way and also put an end to cyberbullying.
The STEM doll was created based on a character of a children book titled ‘Princess can code’, published in 2018 by Bukola Somide. In the book, Somi the main character was illustrated as a curious young girl who had a natural interest in learning Computer Programming concepts from her mom. The book earned her a five star review on Amazon.
The software engineer said her vision is to create more children’s storybooks to build out the “Somi, The Computer Scientist” series. She added that she would also like to publish more Computer Science Activity books to fill in more advanced ideas, and also create a mobile application to spread online materials such as eBooks.
