Sofia Ongele (born 21 September 2000) is an American software developer and hacktivist. She is the Director of Digital Strategy at Gen-Z for Change and starred in the 2022 Disney+ documentary Growing Up.[1]
Sofia Ongele was born and raised in Santa Clarita, California, and began programming at age 15. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Ongele said she attended Kode with Klossy, a summer class for young girls from the ages of 13 to 18, which was created by fashion model Karlie Kloss.[2][3] She then attended Apple's Engineering Technology Camp, and in 2020 was named a winner of Apple's WWDC20 Swift Student Challenge.[4]
At age 17 she created her first app, ReDawn, which is meant to support sexual assault survivors.[5] She also began providing coding mentoring to her peers.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ongele began posting on TikTok, discussing her experiences as Black woman living in the United States, and social causes such as reproductive rights.[6][7] She has accumulated more than 300,000 followers on TikTok. In 2023, Ongele was one of three Gen-Z content creator-activists who joined the Sustainable Media Center’s Board of Advisors.[8][9][10]
Ongele plans to graduate from Columbia University in May 2024 with a bachelor's degree in Computer and Information Sciences. She joined the anti-war protests at the university in April 2024.[11][12]
Ongele has garnered recognition, including receiving the California Endowment Voices for Change Award and was honored as a CES Young Innovator to Watch.[6]
