The first recipient of LSC's new Strides in STEM Award is Karlie Kloss.

Kloss is an American supermodel, 40-time Vogue cover girl, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Raised in St. Louis, she was discovered at a local charity fashion show in 2006. After walking in her first show for Calvin Klein, her fashion career quickly took off with 64 shows booked her first full fashion week season. Since then, Kloss has walked for top designers including Oscar de la Renta, Christian Dior, Alexander McQueen and Versace, among dozens of others. A global brand ambassador for Estee Lauder, she has also starred in several major international campaigns with brands that include adidas, Versace, Dior, Calvin Klein, Carolina Herrera and Swarovski.

Outside of modeling, Kloss's passion for technology led her to take her first coding class in 2014. Inspired by code’s creativity and endless possibility, she launched Kode With Klossy in 2015, a nonprofit focused on creating learning experiences and opportunities for young women that increase their confidence and inspire them to pursue their passions in a technology driven world. Now in its fifth year, the organization hosts free two-week summer coding camps where girls aged 13 to 18 explore the fundamentals of programming in a fun, collaborative and hands-on learning environment. By the end of camp, scholars build their own app or website using programming languages including HTML, Javascript and Swift.

Since 2018, Kode With Klossy has also partnered with Teach For America to hire and recruit instructors, who were trained in Kode With Klossy’s curriculum to teach the summer camps. By providing scholarships to nearly 1,000 young women this summer, Kode With Klossy will have reached nearly 2,400 women through its flagship summer camps since launching in 2015.