Code First Girls

Code First Girls is a social enterprise focused on widening participation in technology through coding education, employability support, and partnerships with businesses. It began in late 2012 as a free, part-time nine-week course intended to encourage female graduates from varied academic and professional backgrounds to learn coding and participate more confidently in technical discussions. The initiative was created by Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford after they observed relatively few female applicants to Entrepreneur First, the pre-seed investment programme they had helped establish. Rather than treating the shortage of women in technology as only a recruitment problem, the founders developed an educational route into software and technical work. The organisation's central model combines free learning opportunities for women and non-binary people with employer engagement. Its courses are designed for students, graduates, and professional women seeking to retrain or develop technical skills. Code First Girls also works with companies that want to recruit more women into technology, train existing employees, and improve progression for women within their organisations. This makes the organisation both an education provider and a bridge between newly trained developers and employers seeking to improve the diversity of their technical workforces. The programme initially operated under the name Code First: Girls. Its early courses were intended to make coding more accessible to people who might not otherwise enter technical education. According to accounts associated with the organisation, more than half of the women in the first completed cohort described themselves as technical or as working in software-development roles after completing the training. The organisation subsequently expanded its course and community activity, developing a network of learners, instructors, mentors, and business partners described as one of the largest communities of its kind in the United Kingdom. Leadership changed in 2015, when Amali de Alwis became the organisation's first announced chief executive, taking over operational leadership from Bentinck and Clifford. Anna Brailsford later succeeded de Alwis as chief executive in 2019. The organisation's public impact claims have grown substantially over time: by 2020 it was reported to have delivered more than £10 million worth of free coding courses to over 18,000 women since its launch, while by 2022 it stated that it had trained more than 50,000 women. A major expansion of its public profile came with the Code First: Girls 20:20 campaign, announced in 2017. The campaign set a target of training 20,000 women to code for free by the end of 2020. In 2018, Code First: Girls announced campaign partnerships involving Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, KKR, Trainline, and OVH. Baroness Martha Lane-Fox and Dame Stephanie Shirley were announced as campaign ambassadors. These partnerships illustrated the organisation's approach of combining charitable or socially oriented education with financial, promotional, and employment support from technology-intensive and professional-services employers. Code First Girls' positioning is therefore based on practical access rather than exclusively academic technology education. It addresses both the supply of diverse technical talent and the organisational conditions that affect recruitment, training, and advancement. Its geographical focus began in the United Kingdom and later included Ireland, the United States, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Detailed current information about its ownership structure, headquarters, website, present executive team, course portfolio, and operating scale is not established by the supplied reference material.

Code First Girls originated in late 2012 in response to a gender imbalance observed in the early-stage technology and entrepreneurship pipeline. Its founders, Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford, were associated with Entrepreneur First and noticed that comparatively few women were applying to the organisation's pre-seed investment programme. They developed a free, part-time coding course to give female graduates from different backgrounds an accessible introduction to programming and to help them contribute to technical conversations in technology businesses. The original programme lasted nine weeks and was designed around practical learning rather than a conventional computer-science degree. Its target audience included women who were interested in technology but lacked formal coding experience, as well as those considering a career change. Reports about the first completed cohort indicated that more than half of its participants identified as technical or were working in software-development roles, suggesting that the programme could help participants move from general interest into technical employment or technical responsibilities. In April 2015, Amali de Alwis was announced as the organisation's first chief executive. Her appointment marked a transition from a founder-led initiative toward a more formal operating model. During the following years, Code First Girls expanded its educational community and strengthened its relationships with employers. Its activities came to include not only free coding instruction but also connections among learners, instructors, mentors, and companies seeking to recruit or develop more women in technology. The organisation's employer-facing role became particularly visible through the Code First: Girls 20:20 campaign, announced in 2017. The campaign established a public goal of training 20,000 women to code without charging them by the end of 2020. In 2018, the organisation announced partnerships with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, KKR, Trainline, and OVH, while Baroness Martha Lane-Fox and Dame Stephanie Shirley were named as campaign ambassadors. The campaign linked Code First Girls' social mission to the resources and hiring needs of major employers. Leadership later passed to Anna Brailsford, who succeeded de Alwis as chief executive in 2019. By 2020, the organisation was reported to have provided more than £10 million in free coding courses to over 18,000 women since its creation. By 2022, Code First Girls stated that it had trained more than 50,000 women. Its geographic reach includes the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Throughout its development, Code First Girls has combined three functions: widening access to technical education, building a community around women and non-binary people in coding, and helping employers address gender diversity in technology. It also supports companies that want to train their own staff and improve progression for women inside their organisations. The available reference material does not establish a current chief executive, detailed legal ownership, headquarters, or a complete list of present courses and commercial arrangements.

• 2022

  Organisation reports training more than 50,000 women

  [1]Code First Girlsen.wikipedia.org

  Code First Girls states that it has trained more than 50,000 women.

• 2020

  Reported delivery passes £10 million in free courses

  [1]Code First Girlsen.wikipedia.org

  The organisation is reported to have delivered more than £10 million worth of free coding courses to over 18,000 women since 2013.

• 2019

  Anna Brailsford becomes chief executive

  [1]Code First Girlsen.wikipedia.org

  Anna Brailsford succeeds Amali de Alwis as chief executive.

• 2017

  Code First: Girls 20:20 campaign launches

  [1]Code First Girlsen.wikipedia.org

  The organisation sets a target of training 20,000 women to code for free by the end of 2020.

• 2016

  National Diversity Award nomination

  [1]Code First Girlsen.wikipedia.org

  Code First: Girls is nominated for a National Diversity Award.

• 2015

  Amali de Alwis becomes chief executive

  [1]Code First Girlsen.wikipedia.org

  Amali de Alwis is announced as the organisation's first chief executive.

• 2012

  Code First Girls begins

  [1]Code First Girlsen.wikipedia.org

  Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford establish the initiative as a free, nine-week part-time coding course for female graduates.

An inclusion-focused technology education and talent organisation that gives women and non-binary people free routes into coding while helping employers recruit, train, and advance more diverse technical teams.

• Education · 2012

  Free coding courses

  Code First Girls provides free coding education primarily for women and non-binary people. The original format was a nine-week, part-time course aimed at female graduates, and the broader offer supports learners who want an introduction to programming, a route into technical work, or a way to retrain professionally. The courses form the core of the organisation's access and gender-diversity mission.

• Professional services

  Employer training and talent partnerships

  The organisation works with businesses that want to train staff, improve progression for women, and recruit more women into technology roles. These partnerships connect employers with Code First Girls' learner and graduate community and provide an organisational counterpart to its free public courses. The supplied references do not specify a standardised current package or pricing structure.

• Community programme

  Mentor and instructor community

  Code First Girls supports a community of coders, instructors, and mentors around its educational activity. This network helps extend learning beyond individual classes and gives participants access to people involved in technical education and industry. Public descriptions identify the community as one of the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom, although a current membership figure is not provided in the supplied material.

• 2017Code First: Girls 20:20 campaign

  United Kingdom

  A public initiative designed to train 20,000 women to code for free by the end of 2020, using employer partnerships and high-profile ambassadors to expand the organisation's reach.

  Outcome. The supplied material does not confirm whether the exact 20,000-person target was reached, but later organisational reporting described more than 50,000 women trained by 2022.

  Source

• 2017

  Set a large-scale free coding targetStrategy

  Background

  Code First Girls sought to move from a course-based initiative toward a wider national campaign addressing the under-representation of women in technology.

  Action taken

  It launched the Code First: Girls 20:20 campaign with a goal of training 20,000 women to code free of charge by the end of 2020.

  Aftermath

  The campaign attracted announced partnerships with major employers and public ambassadors. Later reports cited substantial growth in the number of women trained.

  Source

• 2015

  Formalise leadership under a chief executiveStrategy

  Background

  After its founder-led launch, the organisation needed a dedicated executive structure as its educational and employer activities developed.

  Action taken

  Amali de Alwis was announced as the first chief executive, taking over from the founders.

  Aftermath

  Anna Brailsford later succeeded de Alwis in 2019.

  Source

• 2021-03-07

  Launchpad partners with Code First Girls[2]Launchpad与Code First Girls建立合作falmouthpacket.co.uk

  Reported: 2021-03-07

  Falmouth University's venture studio, Launchpad, partnered with Code First Girls to support more women and non-binary people entering the tech industry.

1. 1Code First Girlsen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Launchpad与Code First Girls建立合作falmouthpacket.co.uk