Meet Kyla Guru, a Real-Life STEM Superhero

Kyla Guru is a lot of things. In her own words, she’s a STEMinist, a Gemini, and a security supergirl -- and we couldn’t agree more. As a 17-year-old high school senior, Kyla is the founder and CEO of Bits N’ Bytes Cybersecurity Education, and she’s on a mission to educate the world on privacy and cybersecurity.

Bits N’ Bytes is a not-for-profit that provides free curriculum for people of all ages to learn how to be safe online and protect themselves from cyber threats. Kyla also runs the organization’s blog, where you can learn things like what data your apps are collecting or the fundamentals of blockchain and bitcoin. Her work has earned her a spot as one of Three Dot Dash’s 2018 Global Teen Leaders.

Every superhero has an origin story, and Kyla’s interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) developed early. She remembers being the kid in class who finished her multiplication tables first and always wanted to learn more.

“I think it started all the way back when I was in elementary school. My mom's a chemist, and my dad is an accountant, so I kind of had the science and math at dinner conversations,” said Kyla. “We’d always talk about what’s in the news and new technologies -- it started really young.”

This led her to take summer courses at Northwestern University, a quick drive from her hometown of Deerfield, Illinois. There, she had her first experience with the gender divide in STEM, though it was something she wouldn’t be able to put words to until years later -- at 7 years old, she was the only girl in her mechanical engineering class.

Kyla continued to pursue her interest in STEM, eventually taking a week-long camp at Purdue University about cybersecurity, and that’s when she found her love for it. Energized by what she learned, in the summer between 8th and 9th grade, she approached her city hall.

“I knew my community had a data breach a year before, so when I approached them, I asked them if they had any kind of cyber task force I could join,” Kyla said. “I was really surprised to learn that there was no reactive action that they were taking, and they weren't really working to prevent the next attack, even though it was inevitable.”

Instead, she took to the elementary school a block from her home and convinced the principal to let her send students a five minute video about cybersecurity. What started as a single video lesson eventually turned into a robust curriculum of videos, blogs, and workshops about everything from password discipline to cloud security.

“Our curriculum now is fully open-source on our website, and we’re distributing it in over 143 schools, so it's really exciting to see where it's gone. It's been used in Singapore and Saudi Arabia and Israel,” Kyla said. “It's become like a movement and a conversation that's getting young people involved. We’re going to be in the boardroom making decisions about privacy in the future, so we should know how Google or Snapchat is using our data right now.”

Now, Kyla balances school work with running Bits N’ Bytes and appearing for speaking engagements and workshops about cybersecurity. Along the way, she continues to run into reminders that work still needs to be done to bring equality to STEM.

“I had a lapel mic, and there’s this part of it that has to clip onto something,” said Kyla. “These products were not designed for women to go on stage and talk in skirts and dresses because we can't clip it onto anything. The whole corporate structure of our world needs the voice of women, especially young women.”

That’s why Kyla started GirlCon Chicago, an event for middle and high school girls passionate about STEM to connect with one another, attend panels, and meet industry professionals from around the country.

“Just connecting through the conference circuits of STEM, you kind of get more mentors and pick them up along the way,” Kyla said. “I hope GirlCon builds that kind of network for young girls, and they understand they can always lean in and they can always raise their hand.”

Those are things Kyla learned from her own STEM superheroes, like Parisa Tabriz, Director of Engineering for Google, or Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, who popularized the “lean in” movement.

“I felt like I was very privileged to have always seen some sort of role model, whether that be someone at my school or in my community or even just on TV,” said Kyla. “I think the biggest thing right now is to get those role models into the places where young people are most.”

Only 16% of the scientists and engineers in the US are women, people of color, or people with disabilities. These groups are seriously underrepresented in STEM because they’re less likely to be exposed to STEM at an early age. Join Kyla in inspiring young students through our STEM Superheroes campaign, powered by 3M.

“My inspiration really comes from my vision of the future. When I see the future, I see board rooms filled with diverse groups of women from marginalized communities that might not completely have a voice right now,” Kyla said. “The advice I would give is to be your own best advocate. Realize that you are an agent for your own growth, and you are the one pushing that forward regardless of what somebody else is doing next to you. That’s the most important part.”

Three Dot Dash is a global youth initiative that powers the most influential social entrepreneurs between the ages of 13 -19, who have found a solution or innovation to address a basic human need. We’d like to thank Three Dot Dash for amplifying the work of young people and teaming up with us for this article.