Code to Inspire (CTI)

CTI addresses gender inequities in STEM education, employment and income. We empower young women in war torn Afghanistan to drive economic and social progress by teaching them how to code, find programming jobs, launch technology ventures, become financially independent and successfully compete in the global tech market. The work has only begun by utilizing the tools of technology education and outreach to provide women with leverage in their fight for social, political and economic equality. CTI’s proof of concept model is replicable in any non-permissive environment. Women who have been empowered with access and skills relevant to the global economy have far reaching effects especially in cultures that have only known women to be subservient. These benefits include a better quality of life for women, their families and their nation. Evidence shows educating and employing females reduce poverty, spur economic growth, improve overall health and decrease gender disparities.

Girls and Women in Afghanistan and other developing countries face significant inequities that limit their access to education, the labor force and fair wages. The World Bank estimates 150 million females globally do not have access to any form of education. Currently only 21% of the 4 million Afghan females between the ages of 15-30 have the opportunity for education beyond the primary levels. More than 80% of men around the world participate in the labor force, compared to 50% internationally and 19% in Afghanistan. On global average, women workers earn 23% less than their male counterparts doing the same job. In Afghanistan, this number is significantly higher.

Biased cultural norms continue to perpetuate gender inequality. There is a strong reluctance to accept women’s rights in Afghanistan and developing countries in general. The women who break this barrier often face social isolation and threats of violent reprisal. Other barriers include minimal financial resources, travel limitations, low wages and domestic obligations. While these factors are deep rooted, they are surmountable.

CTI strives to close the gender gap in education and income in Afghanistan and across the developing world by teaching digital literacy to females and helping them secure employment upon graduation. In 2015, we opened the first coding school for females in Afghanistan. Enrollment has increased every year since. 

Our replicable model solves a host of problems faced by women in conflict zones by providing a safe space to learn, work, and gain self-confidence free of social constraints, at no cost to the students. 

The job-driven curriculum consists of Web Development, Mobile Application Development, Gaming and Graphics Design giving our students access to millions of jobs in the global marketplace. Fereshteh hosts weekly Google Hangouts and monthly conference calls with the students where she discusses what’s happening at school and listens to student feedback.

In one year, students gain the skills needed for quality employment. Some students choose to return for an additional year to learn another skill. Once students graduate we help them secure employment. 

The demand for tech education will continue to grow, and CTI will continue to strive to obtain the needed funding to grow from a nascent cradle of education into a respected, sustainable community institution.

CTI serves girls and young women between the ages of 15-30 years old in conflict zones and developing countries. Every one of them is challenged with figuring out how to thrive in a non-permissive culture. Most of our students are from low income families and many have never used a computer. 

Our Founder and Executive Director, Fereshteh Forough grew up under similar circumstances as the women we serve. This shared experience gives her a broad understanding of our student’s needs. This, in fact, is what fuels her passion for this project. While this general understanding is helpful, we realize that honing down on the current needs of our students then incorporating their needs and feedback into our services is crucial in delivering high quality education.

While we engage with students in a variety of ways (e.g. surveys, online meetings, classroom discussions) we have found the most effective way to get student feedback is during regular meetings with their mentors.

Our solution naturally addresses their broader needs of education, employment with quality income and financial independence. Their day to day needs are addressed as they arise. 

CTI is teaching technology skills to girls and young women in a conflict zone. We also teach the skills and provide the support needed to secure employment. In doing so, we are increasing the number of women participating in learning and reducing barriers that prevent girls and young women from attaining education beyond the primary education levels. 

In a sense, CTI’s teaching method is one of the oldest in existence. Mentorship and seminars are tried and true methods of community learning. We feel no real push to be innovative in our teaching methodology. Our area of expertise is in applying this methodology in non-permissive environments and in constructing real connection with the communities we serve.

We will take credit for being innovative, in that CTI was the first coding school for females in Afghanistan and that we are laying groundwork for a much larger structure, both as a school and as a social movement.  What appears on the surface to be a school is in fact an undermining attack on systems that have only ever known the exploitation of women. Culture can only be changed from within, and a generation of girls in Herat have already been implanted in their communities, where their examples inspire others and result in the increased demand for our service year after year.

Most of all though, we are disruptive. We challenge the cultural norms that act as barriers for young women who seek advancement and independence in life. These barriers can be social, and they can be violent, but they have taught us how to build our organization’s resilience and have forged our perseverance.

There are several other coding schools in Afghanistan but these schools differ from CTI in that they are short-term/coding camps, coed, cost money and/or do not offer job placement services after graduation.

CTI uses technology to bridge the gender gap in computer related fields, create a viable path for Afghan women to become financially independent, reduce gender inequities and generate a strong, resilient and tech-centered economy in Afghanistan. The root of our solution is teaching technology literacy to females who have historically not had access to these tools especially not in the form of formal education or as an employment path.

CTI incorporates many forms of technology in our teaching methodology (e.g. computers, mobiles devices, online teaching platforms and a variety of communication apps.)

Our curriculum includes basic computer literacy; courses on learning basic website development using HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Wordpress; mobile app development and Unity; graphic design; freelance platforms such as Upwork; developing a social media presence; creating resumes/portfolios; and online resources for finding employment.

Many assignments involve students using their technology knowledge to create solutions in their community. Examples include the Hakeem mobile app (developed during COVID19 to connect local pro bono doctors with patients at home) and Afghan Backpack (a mobile app to promote tourism and portray the hidden beauty of Afghanistan.)

Once students graduate, we provide support as they secure employment where they begin their journey advancing technology or using technology to advance other areas. 

It is widely accepted that education positively impacts many areas including employment, income and gender biases. It is also widely known that regions with higher levels of education and income and less biases  have stronger economies. As such, CTI is inherently improving communities by educating girls and women in non-permissive cultures. In turn, our students are using their technology education to make an even greater impact in the world. So far they have developed more than 50 social impact games and apps with graphic design work and videos which address different challenges in the community. Here are a few examples:

• Afghan Hero Girl Game both for Android and iOS: This game is originally designed to tackle gender inequality and raise awareness about women empowerment and decision making process. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.codetoinspire.afghanherogirl
• Graphic Design: An educational video from about social distance during EID celebration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_F6Uw66QA8
• Hakeem App both for Android and iOS, connecting pro bono doctors to patients at home during COVID19. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/%D8%AD%DA%A9%DB%8C%D9%85-hakeem/id1508757679
• Rahnamaye Reshte (University entrance guidance)  app: It is designed for 12th graders to access information about Universities and faculties in Afghanistan for their future studies. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.freshteh.rahnamayreshteh

The cultural attitude towards the education of women across the developing world presents a major obstacle to the advancement of human rights. The techniques being developed/deployed by CTI form a blueprint that can be applied to education in any non-permissive environment. While the direct impact of our work is limited in geography, the knowledge we glean is universal and a powerful tool for humanity at large.

CTI’s primary activities are teaching code and technology skills in a safe, single gender classroom then providing support in securing employment.

Immediate outputs are simple: female students acquire high demand skills, develop a higher level of self-agency and secure employment. To date, 200+ students have received education from CTI. Of these students, 60% have found work in their communities and 20% have founded their own tech ventures.

Intermediate outcomes: women are becoming financially independent and proving their financial worth to their family, allowing the men to shift their attitude on women’s value.

Our long-term impact reduces gender bias and adds to the national economy. Women who have been empowered with access/skills relevant to the global economy have far-reaching effects. Simply earning their way in cultures that have only known women to be subservient is a powerful statement of change. The link between increased education and decreased violence against women has long been recognized. CTI is taking the critical first step toward a generational shift in attitude benefiting women across the entire culture. Success at the ground level can be built into extensive improvements in the quality of life and human rights of all people across the developing world.

Our present numbers are far too small to have an impact on national statistics plus measurable metrics of the social impact of this are hard to come by with any reliability. However, as we expand our reach and resource base, we plan to conduct community/nationwide surveys that will provide insight into the cultural outlook towards women’s education and let us accurately track the changes that take place. This effort will illustrate the wide-ranging transformative effect of incremental improvements in women’s independence and well-being.

CTI’s Herat school currently has the capacity to serve 100 girls and women a year. We will see small growth in a year as we increase our infrastructure for significant growth the following years. During the next five years, our plan is to incrementally grow this campus to a capacity of 400, and open campuses in two other locations in Afghanistan for a total capacity of 1000 students in Afghanistan.

Our students represent a small fraction of people impacted by their education. The impact trickles down to their family and eventually impacts their communities, the nation and the world.

CTI’s goal within the next year or so is to strengthen our infrastructure to prepare for growth over the next five years. Our aim at our primary location in Herat is to expand to meet growing demand. We additionally plan to open two new schools in Afghanistan during which we can apply our hard-won lessons in non-permissive education and test new approaches to the problem of social resistance. While we have built a solid framework in this department, testing and refining it is still a major focus.

As we are increasing the number of students, we will also be strengthening CTI’s job placement program by expanding our partnership base with technology employers locally and abroad.

Women in conflict zones and male-dominated cultures face many obstacles as they struggle to gain access to education and the employment opportunities necessary to create a better life for themselves and their families. As CTI strives to removes these obstructions, we have found these to be the greatest barriers to our expansion:

FINANCIAL: Families cannot afford to pay for their daughters’ schooling, internet or other supplies thus CTI is solely dependent on outside funding. The war-torn economy is poor and job opportunities are limited, especially for women.

SECURITY: Extremists are a constant threat to women working towards independence/equal rights.

NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE: Continual conflict reduces available infrastructure/system reliability. Electricity is not consistent and access to the internet in rural and poor communities remains limited. Lack of transportation systems limits job opportunity and prospects to those within walking distance of their employer.

CULTURAL BIASES: Females in Afghanistan are discouraged from contributing to their community, socially, economically, or politically because of their gender. These biases begin in the home. Many families believe girls should stay home and not pursue education/employment; instead women are expected to bear the brunt of childcare and other unpaid domestic responsibilities. They lack safe places outside the home to learn, work or access the internet without verbal and physical harassment from men. The tech sector specifically is especially difficult for Afghan women to enter due to a strong misconception that only men can pursue computer science and technical studies.

FINANCIAL: Since most girls and women in Afghanistan cannot afford education, CTI offers free tuition to every student. We also supply all the supplies and equipment needed at no cost.  One component of CTI’s sustainability plan is to recruit a percentage of students who can afford to pay for some or all of the tuition. By teaching skills in high demand globally, graduates can find employment on the global market when local jobs are not available.

SECURITY: CTI employs a security team and equipment to ensure the safety of our students.

NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE: Infrastructure Access: Our campus has generators for electricity backup and internet access. The technology skills we are teaching allow women to work from their home, eliminating the need for transportation.

CULTURAL BIASES: Working from home also prevents sexual harassment in public spaces and allows the women to meet any domestic expectations. CTI connects students with paid employment during the school year. This glimpse of income has proven to be very influential in changing the attitude of the men in their family to women working. This blessing of brothers and husbands in the community has been a key factor in our success, and the cultural movement is slowly but surely picking up steam, as evidenced by the increase in applicants each year. The misconception that only men can pursue computer science and technical studies is also diminishing as more girls and women attend CTI.

# Full-time staff: 10

# Part-time staff: 1

# Contractors: 0

# Other workers: 0

# Full-time staff: 10

# Part-time staff: 1

# Contractors: 0

# Other workers: 0

Founder and Executive Director, Fereshteh Forough was born a refugee in Iran after her family fled Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion. Her mother sewed clothing to sell in order to earn money for her children’s school supplies. After the fall of the Taliban in 2002, Fereshteh and her family moved back to Herat, Afghanistan. On her return to Herat, she earned her Bachelor’s in Computer Science. She later earned her Master’s from Technical University of Berlin in Germany. She returned to Herat University to join the Computer Science faculty, where she taught for almost three years. Fereshteh advocated for women’s education, for which she was vehemently opposed, ultimately forcing her to leave Afghanistan in 2012 and settle in New York City. In 2015, she established CTI as the first coding school for girls in Afghanistan, leading all aspects of operations and fundraising remotely. With the help of her team in Herat, she found a safe location with full-time security for the school. Fereshteh has fought her entire life to carve out a place of opportunity for herself and girls like her, who seek education and a better place in life. 

The leadership team on the ground in Afghanistan consist of a program manager and five teachers/mentors. The teachers have their degree in computer science. The program manager has a technology degree, as well as, many years experience as a program manager and researcher at World In Conversation in Herat

We currently partner with Google, Unity Gaming and Coursera for Refugees. They provide guidance and funding support to our organization while providing employment opportunities and mentorships to our graduates. 

KEY RESOURCES

• Funding
• People
• Computer Equipment, Software, Supplies & Furniture
• Building
• Electricity & Internet

PARTNERS & KEY STAKEHOLDERS

• Girls & Women from our Community
• Tech Companies
• Growth Advisors

KEY ACTIVITIES

• Recruitment
• Teaching
• Job Placement
• Building Relationships/Partnerships
• Marketing

TYPE OF INTERVENTION

• NGO Educational and Job Placement Service

CHANNELS

• Word of Mouth
• Social Media
• Presentations

SEGMENTS

• Girls, Women & Families
• Tech Industry
• Employers
• Communities/Nations

CUSTOMER

• Girls, Women & Families
• Tech Industry
• Human Rights Activists
• Governments & Foundations

VALUE PROPOSITION

• Education
• Employment with quality pay
• Financial Stability/Independence
• Improved Economy
• Gender Equity

Our present numbers are far too small to have an impact on national statistics plus measurable metrics of the social impact of this are hard to come by with any reliability. However, as we expand our reach and resource base, we plan to conduct community/nationwide surveys that will provide insight into the cultural outlook towards women’s education and let us accurately track the changes that take place.

COST STRUCTURE

• Staff
• School Building
• Infrastructure (internet, utilities and equipment)

These are CTI’s major expenses. The increased expenses that occur during growth within a locality is primary the cost of additional teachers and equipment. As we add new markets we will need additional staff, buildings and equipment.
 
SURPLUS
Surplus of funds will be invested directly back into our mission through expansion of services, endowment and/or 6-12 months reserve account. 

REVENUE
20% Individual Donations & Events
30% Grants
20% Corporate Giving
30% Crowdfunding campaigns

While we are still at the beginning stages of our solution and are relying on grants and other donations, our long term strategy expands beyond this model to include revenue resources traditional post-secondary education institutions rely on for sustainability: endowments, earned income and graduate support. While the earned income component could be implemented to support more immediate funding needs, it will take time to raise funds for an endowment and build a solid base of graduates who have attained the financial security needed to become CTI donors.

Based upon our donation history, we are confident we can continue raising the funds needed to support our current capacity with slow incremental growth as we accumulate these resources. We are actively seeking guidance on how CTI can bring it to scale in a timeline that reflects the urgency of the need. 

CTI is currently being recognized as a national brand for girls and women in tech in Afghanistan. On a weekly basis we are receiving several calls, text messages and emails from girls and their family members around Afghanistan and other countries (e.g. Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Philippine, India) who are asking if we will be able to expand our school into their hometown. We strongly believe being a part of the SOLVE community will help us achieve this expansion and impact more lives by broadening our much-needed network of pioneers in the areas of technology, human rights and scaling impact. The gift of their knowledge and experience will be invaluable support in getting us to the next big steps as we restructure our business model, navigate poor infrastructure challenges and encounter new cultural norms.

CTI’s founder, Fereshteh is the only full-time administrative staff. While she pours her heart and soul into fulfilling CTI’s mission, we need guidance and additional support to achieve large-scale change for girls and women in Afghanistan and other developing countries. Being part of the SOLVE community will enable her to find the big picture with expertise and change the precipitation of people about Afghanistan as only a war zone.

While CTI’s business model is effective at our current growth rate, we need guidance from experts as we modify our business/revenue model and so we can successfully scale our impact. Having board members and advisors with experience doing this would allow us to achieve this goal in the urgent timeline needed. Marketing support would also speed up our growth as we seek to reach more people and new markets. As we expand we will need more partnerships with technology employers to aid in our job placement efforts.

We would like to partner with Women in Tech companies and organizations like Women Who Code, AnitaB.rog who have particular experience working with girls and women. We would like to partner with Coding schools and bootcamps such as General Assembly, Flatiron, Udemy Coursera, App academy and universities like MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley to expand our curriculum beyond what we offer now and also partnering with tech companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc to establish internship/ employment pipeline. 

We use innovative technology solutions with a highly competitive standard tech curriculum in our coding school not only to tackle gender/digital and wage gap inequality but also to financially empower Afghan women through free education in a safe environment and provide access to employment and entrepreneurial opportunities that advance their personal and professional success and the needs of their community.

Using this fund will enable us to enroll a new group of 100 students to access free quality education where they will gain confidence and a professional work portfolio to access the job market. 

The soul focus of our work is to invest in girls and women’s future through technology education. Afghanistan is still a conflict zone where women are the first victims to face domestic abuse, forced marriage, violence and being prevented from going to school due to lack of security and infrastructure. 

We are taking on all these challenges by giving them a safe space free of harassment, free of charge and a path for financial independence. 
Using this fund will enable us to enroll a new group of 100 students who are vulnerable and create a path for them to access better employment opportunities.