Re:Coded

As the way we live, play and work moves faster towards a future powered by technology, the digital inequality gap is expected to widen, especially for populations that have faced displacement.

Re:Coded is an education startup that prepares youth in underserved parts of the world to join and thrive in the digital economy. We find talented people and teach them the technical, collaboration and the communication skills they need to become highly valuable tech professionals.

Re:Coded exists to ensure that everyone, anywhere can actively participate and thrive in the competitive digital economy. We want to drive equal opportunity for high value education and employment and in doing so, start to affect systemic change.

We believe that while talent is universal, opportunity is not. The Middle East and Africa is home to one quarter of the world’s population (1.86 billion) and could supply the next generation of the global workforce, but it is not ready to fill these roles of the future. The region has the highest youth population in the world, as well as the highest unemployment rate. It is clear that we are in the midst of a digital revolution and education is not preparing youth for the future of work. The outcomes of this revolution, which is occurring in an environment of unparalleled global connectivity and demographic change is likely to perpetuate and worsen existing chasms between those who are prepared and those who are not, leading to dangerous cyclical relationship between economic disenfranchisement and instability. Re:Coded exists to address the widening digital inequality gap in some of the most underserved countries in the world. We believe that it is essential to harness technology to connect youth to high quality education and jobs to reduce growing dependence on government and more mass-migrations.

We are integrating underserved youth into the labor market and taking on the global digital skills gap. Through our intensive code and design bootcamps, we train youth for successful careers in the technology sector as software developers and designers. ~40% of our students are women, helping to bridge the digital gender divide in technology.

Our model adopts a blended learning approach with a focus on practice as a way to learn more efficiently. Our curricula are online, and teaching takes place a few times per week, when students and trainers come together to practice and learn from each other. Because we believe learning to code alone is not enough, we also teach our students powerful skills like leadership, communication, and problem solving, making them competitive in any job market and we ensure that our students have a laptop and an internet connection so that no one gets left behind. 

In addition to providing training and career support through our programs, Re:Coded’s innovative operating model includes a digital agency - Re:Coded Labs. Our agency is staffed by graduates from our programs and 50% of the profits is reinvested back into our education programs, to fuel our mission and growth.

Re:Coded targets youth aged 18 - 35 that have been affected by conflict without access to quality education or dignified employment. Re:Coded takes a human-centered approach to all its work and beneficiaries are at the core of our solution. To better understand their needs we host workshops and events, enabling us to get anecdotal feedback from potential bootcamp participants. This allows us to contextualize and adapt our curriculum for each community. During the bootcamps we survey our students, enabling us to identify challenges and course correct to ensure their success. Additionally, Re:Coded alumni that work with us play a key role in ensuring that our solution coincides with the needs of local communities. Graduates play roles as Re:Coded Ambassadors raise our visibility and connect us to new communities and stakeholders. Additionally, we work closely with our students and employers to ensure that they continue to learn the market-relevant and durable skills required to be competitive in local and international markets. By connecting talent with opportunity, Re:Coded empowers graduates to bring change to their families, tech companies, and communities across the globe.

With the global spread of COVID-19, it is abundantly clear that youth are not being properly prepared for the future of work. Rates of unemployment have skyrocketed globally yet there are still thousands of open skilled positions in IT. Re:Coded is well positioned to fill this gap, we equip youth with the digital skills needed to stay afloat in the ever changing global market and we are preparing youth -no matter where they live- with sustainable livelihood opportunities. This has a powerful ripple effect, our graduates support not only themselves/their families but the communities in which they live.

Re:Coded was the first to bring the concept of coding bootcamps to war-torn areas. Unlike most training programs in humanitarian contexts, Re:Coded was founded on the belief that youth in these places should be prepared for the future of work. Instead, Re:Coded has built a highly scalable learning community/sustainable model of job creation not bound by geography. Re:Coded also runs Re:Coded Labs - a digital agency staffed by our top graduates. 50% of the profits generated is reinvested back into our education programs, to fuel our mission/growth. The beauty of this model is that Re:Coded is able to provide economic opportunities to refugees and allows our graduates to gain job experience, earn income, build portfolios, and contribute to local communities/economies. 

While other coding programs exist, ours are different:

1. More comprehensive, intensive training programs where students learn by doing rather than rote learning. We use state of the art learning techniques using a technology-based curriculum, enabling us to keep our costs low and scaling possible.

2. We have 6-week apprenticeships incorporated into our training programs. Our students work with Re:Coded Labs to build a product and receive work experience/add projects to their portfolios. 

3. We constantly evolve our curriculums to best meet employer demands/fill voids in education systems (i.e. UX/UI design/digital marketing).

4. We connect graduates to VCs/successful entrepreneurs in the region that provide mentorship/support to help build a strong foundation for startups so that they can grow.

Re:Coded strives for its interventions to be accessible to everyone with an internet connection and as a result, we are powered by technology. We use an online learning management system for our technical and professional development curriculums. Students go through course content on our LMS, enabling us to track student progress when they are not in the classroom and alert teachers when students are underperforming. This ensures that trainers and education managers are able to provide focused attention to those that need additional help. More importantly, this online learning content has been specifically designed for youth in our programs and is contextualized in each new region in which we operate to better address their needs/those of the local market. Furthermore, using a technology-based curriculum enables us to keep the cost of education low and scaling possible. Our learning content itself not only includes materials on how to find a job in the traditional sense (i.e. working in an office or for a local tech company) but also includes curricula on freelancing, enabling our students to be able to access remote work. In an arena where many refugees face the bureaucratic challenge of accessing legal work permits, this can be life-changing as freelancing allows them to access professional opportunities from anywhere in the world. This not only allows them to build their portfolios and become more competitive candidates for future opportunities, but allows them to contribute to the growth of the local economies in which they reside.

Since our first coding bootcamp in 2017, nearly 250 students have graduated from our programs and nearly 90% of those were employed within 6 months of graduation. In the countries in which we work, our students have laid the groundwork in building tech ecosystems and spurring the growth of new industries and technologies. They have gone on to start their own businesses, work at startups and other tech firms as well as continued their learning journeys. But most importantly, they are constantly giving back to the Re:Coded community by providing mentorship and job opportunities to the next generation of graduates from our programs. We support our students by building a strong foundation which sets them on a clear path to long-term economic security and resilience.

Across the world’s 35 conflict zones, 75 million children are currently being denied both education and the prospect of future employment. We want to change the way organizations approach this problem by providing a blueprint for bridging the education/employment divide for refugees/vulnerable youth and training a diverse workforce that is outside of traditional talent pools. We give tangible and durable digital skills to populations that have been excluded from working in IT. The graduates from our programs revitalize local economies and are entering the digital economy to help us build our future.  

Theory of change: By teaching talented youth in conflict affected areas how to code and preparing them for jobs of the future, we will help them to get purposeful employment, earn above average salaries, and reduce negative coping strategies. 

We believe that Re:Coded’s model is the future of education.

How do we do this? 

• This is achieved through our innovative model that combines education with practical real-life skills training such as technical, leadership, and business skills as well as long-term mentorship and career support.

• By fostering the development of local tech communities in the areas in which we work and supporting our students through their entire educational and professional journeys – we help them to become more competitive in the job market and contribute to the economies in which they live. 

• We support students with an entrepreneurial mindset by connecting them with successful founders and entrepreneurs as well as to investment opportunities. 

How are we doing? 

• Of nearly 250 graduates, nearly 90% found employment within 6 months of graduation and the majority of our graduates reported that their salaries tripled

• 15 graduates have started their own businesses and created jobs. Job creation is one of the greatest drivers of poverty reduction/stability in conflict-affected economies - the key to those jobs are local entrepreneurs. 

• 100% of graduates would recommend the program to a friend or family member.

Currently serving: ~1,500

This number includes participants that are currently participating in coding bootcamps, workshops, and other services offered by Re:Coded as well as our alumni network, which remains an active and engaged component in supporting Re:Coded’s overall mission.  

Next year: ~3,500

We hope to increase the number of beneficiaries and graduates across all of our current Re:Coded programs within the next year. We plan to expand geographically to both Lebanon and Jordan. We plan to pilot our first program outside of MENA in the coming year by building the technology ecosystem and skills capacity amongst youth in Malawi and/or Sudan.

We plan on expanding Re:Coded Academy - an online platform which includes learner guides, customized career-prep, leadership and job readiness curricula through a mix of video content, text and assessments. The platform will also include access to some of our new technical curriculums including UX/UI design and our soft skills curriculum. This platform will also enable our model to be replicable across all countries that we work, ensuring our model is ready to scale. 

In five years: ~15,000

We plan to increase the number of youth that we train by at least 10 and to expand into new geographies and markets outside of MENA. We not only plan to substantially increase the number of our direct beneficiaries, but our indirect beneficiaries will increase tenfold as our students’ communities continue to benefit from the training outcomes and benefits of being part of the Re:Coded network/community.

Next year: We plan to create an online repository for our learning materials (both technical and professional). Students impacted by conflict can access unimaginable opportunities that will allow them to enter the digital economy, regardless of where they live. Taking our training programs online will allow us to increase our reach and allow us to enter markets where we might not be able to have a physical presence (i.e. Syria). All students need is a laptop, internet connection, and a passion for technology/learning new things-all of which we can provide support mechanisms for. Besides opening new programs in major markets, we will build partnerships with universities, tech hubs and governments across the globe, who with support from our trainers, will enable us to reach tens of thousands of students. To ensure our model is replicable we are building a guide of our operations (“Bootcamp out of a box”). We are also scaling Re:Coded Labs.

Next 5 years: We want to multiply the number of youth that we train by 10 by expanding geographically to new markets in MENA, Asia, and Africa while continuing to strengthen and grow our existing programs. As we continue to expand our reach/train more talented youth we create a powerful multiplier effect. As more and more students gain high value jobs in the tech sector or decide to start their own businesses they impact the lives of their families and revitalize local economies which has the potential to transform the lives of millions.

Financial

Until Re:Coded Labs is fully operational and generates a more sustainable income, Re:Coded is reliant and grants and other charitable donations to carry out project operations. This inherently limits the team growth as our team is employed on a project basis. We would love to generate enough revenue that we can cover our core operational costs so that it is more feasible to scale sustainably. 

Legal

Operating as an NGO in some country-contexts in the region has proven challenging. We often face bureaucratic challenges - however even as a relatively new and small organization this has slightly hampered our efforts to ramp up operations in Turkey and Yemen and we do expect to face similar challenges in breaking into new markets such as Jordan and Lebanon. However, with the right partnerships and support - we believe that we will be able to enter new markets in 4 countries over the next 2 years.  

Cultural

While we have a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic team, we don’t currently have team members that can support us in navigating the culture of the new markets we hope to enter.

Financial 

In the past year, additional staff members have been brought on with expertise in grant-writing crowdfunding, and marketing, as well as more developers to work Re:Coded Labs. The support that those staff members are able to provide will allow Re:Coded to access new funding and revenue streams in order to sustain and grow our operations. Re:Coded Labs will be able to take on new projects - increased revenue will increase the ability to keep our operations expanding. Additionally, increased exposure through the MIT Solve platform enables us to reach more potential investors, mentors, and partners that are willing to be champions for our mission. 

Legal

With increased access to both financial support and opportunities for visibility, Re:Coded will be able to either work directly with a lawyer familiar with the bureaucratic processes in the region or expand its network enough to get insights from similar organizations in the region. 

Cultural

Before starting any new programs, Re:Coded will ensure we work with a local team in countries and communities that we work in to support us in navigating new cultures to ensure that our programs, curricula, etc. are culturally sensitive.

Re:Coded is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in the US with branches
operating in Iraq, Turkey, and Yemen. There are 31 full-time staff and 3
part-time staff across all of our operations.

Re:Coded is powered by a leadership team with extensive experience and wide networks in their areas of direction. Re:Coded was co-founded and is led by two EdTech practitioners, Alexandra Clare (CEO) and Marcello Bonatto (COO) that jointly oversee the strategic direction of the organization, the creation of new programs and team management. They have been effective at forming partnerships with some of the world’s leading education and technology organizations and attracting funding, resulting in international recognition including a Google Rise Award and Finalist Awards for the MIT Innovate for Refugees competition as well as being recognized widely in the media (CNN, BBC, Le Monde and Reuters) as one of the most innovative education and employment models for refugees and vulnerable youth in MENA. Re:Coded’s core staff of 34 come from a variety of different educational, personal, and professional backgrounds from both the public and private sector. Each team member brings a variety of strengths to the organization (i.e. education experts, a team of professional developers, team members from the humanitarian sector, graduates from our programs, and so much more! This has enabled Re:Coded to become the one-stop-shop for youth in the region looking for the opportunity to enter the digital economy and find gainful, sustainable employment. Although there are other coding programs - no one has a diverse team like ours who are passionately working to push our mission to equip youth with the digital skills needed to be ready for the future of work.

Re:Coded has three groups of partnerships to deliver digital-skills training to talented youth that have been affected by conflict.

Education/Knowledge Institutions:

We partner with Udacity, Flatiron School, ConsenSys and Coursera, which are world-class curriculum providers to provide the training materials for our coding bootcamps/workshops. Additionally, partnerships with knowledge institutions offers the potential for cross-collaboration between different faculties to help design and implement the program.

Private sector:

Re:Coded works with the private sector globally to build sustainable pipelines of employment opportunities for students graduating from the program. The organization already has a network of leading private sector partners including SAP, Careem, WeWork, Atlassian, Microsoft, Slack, and the Bloomberg Foundation that have pledged to support refugee talent. Re:Coded also works with private sector partners to design programs to ensure that there is a match between the skills they need and the program graduates.

Public Sector

Re:Coded boasts a large network of government and UN agencies such as IOM, UNDP, as well as GIZ, USAID, MSI that also share a passion for supporting refugee youth. On top of that Re:Coded has a large network of civil society actors including; Rizk, United Work, Support to Life, Concern Worldwide, Türk Kızılay, the GAP Regional Development Association, and local municipal partners in areas that are highly populated with refugee populations.

Re:Coded is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization registered in the US, Iraq, and Turkey. Through our intensive programs, we train talented youth in conflict affected areas for successful careers in the rapidly growing technology sector as software developers/entrepreneurs and help them become the next generation of tech leaders. At least 40% of our students are also women, helping to bridge the digital gender divide in technology. 

In addition to providing training and career support through our 5 month fellowship program, Re:Coded’s innovative operating model includes a for profit digital agency - Re:Coded Labs. Our agency is staffed by graduates from our programs and 50% of the profits generated through Re:Coded Labs is reinvested back into our education programs, to fuel our mission and growth. We hire the best graduates from our coding bootcamps to work on client projects/learn more about being a developer. We’re not only helping to fill the technical skills gaps which is estimated to cost the global economy $8.5 trillion in unrealized annual revenues, we’re also providing high-value jobs to unemployed youth. Additionally, we equip all our graduates with the digital skills necessary to thrive in the global economy and for budding entrepreneurs, we use our program to connect them to successful entrepreneurs in the region that will provide mentorship/support to help build a strong foundation for their startups. We also provide admin support to ensure refugees are able to work legally and can contribute to local economies.

Re:Coded is a non-profit organization funded by some of the world’s leading foundations, development agencies and tech companies. While currently operating through generous donations from UN agencies, the private tech sector, government aid mechanisms, and foundations, we understand the importance of developing pathways towards long-term financial revenue streams. To ensure long-term financial sustainability, we have launched Re:Coded Labs - a digital agency that produces world-class tech products (apps + websites) for purpose driven organizations globally. We employ alumni talent from our coding programs to work with us as software developers and the fees we charge for services provides an income to our fellows and also helps fuel our core operations. 50% of our revenues and profits are reinvested into activities benefiting education and employment programs for vulnerable and conflict affected youth, not only in the regions that we currently operate in, but globally.

We are planning to scale and grow rapidly not only throughout the MENA region but globally in the upcoming years. This opportunity with Solve would allow us to network with like-minded organizations operating in the same sphere to assist with our expansion plans outside of the countries in which we already operate. We have potential students contacting us from nearly 15 different countries where we don’t yet operate, asking us to bring our programs to where they live. We believe that everyone should receive access to education that enables them to thrive in the competitive digital economy but we need support to make that a reality. Therefore, the mentorship component of the Solve award would be instrumental in enabling us to understand how best to effectively scale our work - quickly. We also hope that Solve membership will increase our exposure, helping us to make connections with potential board members and champions for our mission.

To help us reach our goals we believe that we should be partnering and receiving targeted mentorship from mission-aligned organizations. Being selected to be on the Solve platform, will enable us to make that a reality.

To reach our goals Re:Coded aspires to create partnerships to expand our project goals and objectives. Having the opportunity to partner with MIT and have access to its professors and other experts would allow us to develop and expand our online curriculum, allowing for students worldwide to access life-changing education opportunities.  We would also love to work alongside other education organizations such as Laboratoria in Latin America to learn more about their UX/UI design bootcamps, how they prepare their graduates for employment and how they’ve created a sustainable pipeline of employment for their graduates with some of the top tech firms in the region. This is currently something that we’re creating, but with the right mentorship and support a similar platform could be created for graduates in our programs to both raise our visibility and further expand sustainable employment opportunities in tech for vulnerable youth. Finally, we would love the opportunity to connect further with like-minded technology partners such as the Atlassian Foundation, General Motors, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation as well as Save the Children who share our mission to prepare disadvantaged youth for the workforce of the future.

With a grant from the Andan Foundation, Re:Coded would be able to fully develop Re:Coded Academy - our innovative online education platform which includes courses on leadership and professional development and how to start a tech career. Refugees globally will be able to access life-changing training opportunities through Re:Coded Academy no matter their geographic location. It has become abundantly clear over the past few months with the global spread of COVID-19 that innovative programs are needed to support underserved populations both in MEA and across the globe. 

Re:Coded remains committed to providing the opportunity for economic self-resilience to the most vulnerable youth, particularly women. This funding would also be able to support several of the coding and design bootcamps already planned for 2020-2021. Leveraging Re:Coded’s extensive network and its commitment to gender equality and minority inclusion in the tech sector, our programs select a minimum of 30% women participants. We equip our graduates with the ability to access sustainable livelihood opportunities and we use our programs to connect graduates with an entrepreneurial mindset to VCs and other successful entrepreneurs in the region that will provide mentorship and support to help build a strong foundation for their startups so that they can grow and play a role in contributing to the growth of tech ecosystems in the local communities. 

With the GM Prize on Food Jobs and Inclusive Entrepreneurship, Re:Coded would be able to fully develop Re:Coded Academy - our innovative online education platform which includes courses on leadership and professional development, career prep as well as on tech entrepreneurship. Youth globally will be able to access training opportunities no matter their geographic location. It has become abundantly clear over the past few months with the global spread of COVID-19 that innovative programs are needed to support conflict-affected populations across the globe. Re:Coded remains committed to providing the opportunity for economic self-resilience to the most vulnerable youth among both refugee and host communities, particularly women. This funding would also be able to support several of the programs already planned for 2020-2021. We equip our graduates with the ability to access sustainable livelihood opportunities and we use our programs to connect graduates with an entrepreneurial mindset to VCs and other successful entrepreneurs in the region that will provide mentorship and support to help build a strong foundation for their startups so that they can grow and play a role in contributing to the growth of tech ecosystems in the local communities. As we continue to scale, we need to ensure that our tech and our business and educational models are solid. Therefore, receiving targeted mentorship from the engineers and experts and GM would be game changing for us as the support would enable us to continue providing life-changing opportunities for youth across MENA - and globally.