Re:Coded

At Re:Coded, we believe that anyone, anywhere should have the opportunity to thrive in the digital economy. Through our transformative education programs, Re:Coded actively empowers youth in under-served communities to build the skills and mindset needed to build a career in technology and become agents of change.

The impact of our programs are transformative with a 92% go-to job rate, a 200% increase in income from pre-program to post-program and a 30% RoI on the total cost of the program within the first year.

At scale, Re:Coded could provide market driven education to millions, reducing inequality and spurring economic growth in some of the most digitally marginalized communities globally. We are now also collaborating more deeply with the public sector to build educator capacity, systems and a student-centric approach to the education system, aiming to impact over 1,000,000 youth in the next five years. 

We're in the midst of a technology revolution and traditional education systems are failing to prepare youth for the future of work. And nowhere is this more evident than in countries already impacted by conflict. At the same time, COVID-19 has accelerated the effects of this transformation, pushing at-risk youth further to the margins of the digital economy where they risk entering a dangerous cyclical relationship between economic disenfranchisement and instability. 

These vulnerabilities are particularly acute in the Middle East, a region with one of the highest youth population shares in the world (over 150 million), as well as one of the highest rates of youth unemployment (38%+), caused by a growing mismatch between youths’ skills and employer needs. Across the region, only 38% of youth believe that their education has prepared them for the workforce and over 40% of companies cite an inability to find suitable talent.

We believe that if left unaddressed, this problem will intensify as the digital revolution transforms society, economies, jobs and people’s personal lives in an environment of unparalleled global connectivity, leading to increasing inequality, violence and unrest. That is, unless we can ensure that youth have the skills, resources and networks to thrive. 

We select youth at the margins of the digital economy and provide them with technical and employability skills, career counseling, access to a community and network, and ongoing employment facilitation and alumni support. Through this approach and its impact, Re:Coded aims to educate, empower and increase the economic growth potential of millions of youth in the long-term. 

We are also tackling digital inequality through a systemic lens through Educators for Change (E4C), a fellowship created to help educators respond to the rapid changes that are disrupting education. Designed by educators for educators, this program aims to help instructors unlock their full potential as they discover recent research, new technologies, and evidence-based practices in the field of learning. In this fellowship, educators explore ways to blend their wisdom and experience with new discoveries, setting an ambitious goal to transform the education system in their countries and beyond, together.

We approach this at scale through our online learning model and community - we take a data driven and whole person approach to learning where students hone their skills through project based learning and build long-term connections with a powerful network of students, alumni and mentors across the region. 

We target unemployed youth between the ages of 18 to 30 years that live in under-resourced communities across the Middle East. Most of our students have been impacted by conflict and economic hardship, with nearly 40% being refugees and only 50% with access to higher education. 

Our programs are tailored to meet the needs of these communities. Our trainers and program staff give students 1:1 support, helping them go through the highs and lows of their learning experience. We also teach students to be independent learners, a skill they keep post-graduation, leading to life-long learning and new opportunities. When equipment is a barrier, Re:Coded provides access to laptops and internet data. 

Today our graduates are not only working at hundreds of leading companies where they are designing products, writing code and enabling innovation, they are also launching new businesses in nascent tech ecosystems and bringing with them, underrepresented voices and viewpoints to new industries. Over 92% of graduates seeking jobs find meaningful employment in the tech industry within 6 months and annual salaries on average, more than triple from pre-program to post-program. 

Meanwhile, our Educators for Change Fellowship targets educators who have been teaching for at least a year in universities, vocational training or digital skills training programs in underserved communities across the Middle East. We are actively targeting educators looking to change education in their countries for the better. Our long-term goal is to empower educators to deliver meaningful education that enables youth in underrepresented communities to thrive in the future of work. 

Our alignment to the selected dimension is directly reflected in our vision: we believe anyone, anywhere should have the opportunity to thrive in the digital economy.

We chose to work:

• In the Middle East, in countries that have been heavily impact by conflict and as result, have some of the most digitally marginalized communities.
• With public-sector and non-profit educational institutions because of the systemic change approach we achieve when it comes to equipping youth with 21st century skills at scale.
• With youth, women and displaced populations because they've been historically marginalized but have high potential to become agents of change.

We have established operations across four countries in the Middle East: Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon and Turkey and have a global team of 50. Over the past year, we have been refining our operations for scale and plan to expand to an additional 2 to 3 new geographies.

1. Our programs are holistic and market-driven: We focus on the whole human and believe that education is not simply about lecturing and certification. We enable our students to learn how to learn and learn by doing. But more importantly, they feel seen, heard, and empowered. They find a safe space to make mistakes, fail, and try new ideas. By the end, they know more about themselves and the world around them and are on their path to become a change agent in their lives and communities. 

2. We invest in access and opportunity: Our online model enables us to reach under-served individuals who live outside major urban areas and give them access to high-quality education and employment opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach. Our scalable model also eliminates barriers to entry through our innovative technology support packages providing students that need laptops and internet data with access. In doing so, we are powering opportunity through digital inclusion, and helping the under-served of the world be a part of today’s digital economy. 

3. We have a powerful network: Re:Coded's presence across the Middle East, our alumni network, mentors, hiring and strategic partners are our biggest assets. In addition to courses designed exclusively to meet employer needs, we foster a pipeline of industry professionals who serve as instructors and mentors. This thriving professional network helps our recent graduates find jobs and make connections, setting them up for success on the job and in life. 

We currently offer three education services under one umbrella which have the following reach and impact: 

Immersive Education Programs: To date, we have trained over 600 fellows in our Immersive Courses, 100% of whom come from low-income backgrounds across Iraq, Yemen, Turkey and Lebanon, 45% of these fellows are female and 40% identify as refugees / IDPs. We are implementing training and employment facilitation for at least an additional 600 underserved youth over the next 12 months. In 5 years, Re:Coded we will reach over 5000 youth per year, starting them on a path towards high value employment in the tech sector and providing them with a strong foundation to increase their income earning potential over time. 

Inspire Education Program: To date, we have trained over 2500 youth in our Inspire Education Programs. We are implementing training for at least an additional 10,000 underserved youth in the next 12 months. In 5 years, our goal is to have reached and impacted 1,000,000 learners globally, who are part of our ongoing community. 

Educators for Change Fellowship: We are currently adapting our existing curriculum into an online course experience for scale. Our goal is to target at least 100 educators over the course of the next year, impacting an estimated 100,000 youth. In 5 years, we will have scaled this program, graduating over 1000 educators and impacting an estimated 1,000,000 students.

In order to support our mission to actively empower youth from untapped communities to build careers in technology, we are measuring the following individual outcomes and indicators: 

Individual Level Outcomes:

• Increased knowledge and skills of students (educational outcomes) (SDG 4)
• Improved economic situation (economic outcomes) (SDG 8, SDG 10)
• Increased agency for change (psychological outcomes)
• Strengthened trusted networks (social capital outcomes)

In order to achieve these outcomes, we are tracking the following indicators: 

• increased knowledge and skills acquired
• increased confidence in skills post graduation
• increased awareness of digital economy possibilities
• increased confidence in learning how to learn
• increased confidence in applying for jobs 
• Avg % of graduates reporting increased (personal or household) income
• # of active job seekers that obtain an outcome within 6 months of graduation
• increased confidence in securing employment after training
• Improved personal outlook (increased direction, vision for the future)
• Increase network outlook (confidence in networking, and trust in using network to achieve goals)

We also track the following community level outcomes and indicators, which are aligned with our desired impact to help build a more inclusive digital economy that celebrates diversity and representation. 

Community Level Outcome: Build more resilient, inclusive and valuable technology ecosystems

Indicators: 

• Increase pipeline of under-represented talent in tech 

• Increased # of underrepresented youth with careers in the digital economy

• Increased # employer partnerships hiring under-represented talent

• Increased # strategic partnerships engaging with under-represented talent

• Increase community impact resulting from tech businesses / % increased entrepreneurial activity in communities

• increase community members engagement with wider community
• increased community reach

50 team members 

Re:Coded is led by Alexandra Clare and Marcello Bonatto who have worked at the intersection of social impact, education and conflict for the past decade. They have lived in the Middle East for 5 years in communities that they serve. 

Re:Coded also has the team to deliver results and a track record of both learning and job outcomes in the Middle East. Today, it is a remote-first organization with 50 full-time employees from 14 different countries with several years of experience delivering education online, of which 30% are actually graduates from our programs. The organization embraces open-mindedness, cultural awareness and the diversity of our teammates and students. We value creativity, transparency, thinking globally and playing to win all while having fun. 

Together, our goal is to create transformation where it is most needed. And we know that by empowering our Fellows, they have the power to bring change to their families, to their neighborhood and to the tech industry itself.

Re:Coded’s leadership team is committed to providing justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion (JEDI) to team members across all elements of diversity. We do this through promoting values and principles that help build more inclusive change in education and global development, implementing People practices that mitigate bias, and offering lifelong learning to deepen our own understanding.

Examples in recruiting include using structured hiring, tracking candidate demographics throughout the hiring pipeline (and sourcing) to make sure there is a diverse range of final candidates, including benchmarked compensation in job post/applications based on our compensation model, and providing interview guides to raise awareness around interview bias. For existing team members, Re:Coded implemented core competencies, weekly check-ins, pulse surveys and biannual 360 Reviews. Re:Coded is designing career paths, defining vertical and role competencies, and in-house training with input from all team members and backed by research. In June 2021, Re:Coded is launching its first organization-wide bi-annual engagement survey with one category specifically dedicated to DEI. The results will drive OKRs and initiatives for Q3 and beyond. 

I am applying to Solve primarily because it would bring recognition to our incredible, hardworking team who show up with passion, care and creativity every day. Becoming a Solver would also be a testament to the communities that I am deeply proud to work with and for everyday, going one step further to changing the narrative about the abilities of displaced individuals around the world to contribute to their communities both socially and economically. 

Second, as we look to scale Re:Coded’s impact, becoming a Solver would help us amplify our platform for growth, enable us to connect with a powerful network and get support with critical areas such as board development, fundraising and program iteration. As stated earlier, our goal is to scale our impact to millions and make a mark on the world as a new kind of non-profit - one that is anti-fragile and distributed, that gives team members across the globe an equitable voice on decision and strategy. To do this requires more financial capital but also access to a network that can open doors, help us to think bigger and help us innovate to solve specific organizational pain points. 

Our short-term strategy is based on building a philanthropically inclined board, and diversifying our revenue away from a few large donors to include major and mid-sized corporations and foundations. This will help us to increase the proportion of core, unrestricted funding and give us more flexibility to expand geographically and implement new educational strategies. To accomplish this, Re:Coded is hiring a Director of Global Partnerships and will be repositioning the board and CEO’s time to invest in relationship development.

Finally, as we enter a new phase of growth we need to be able to tell a compelling story and build a comprehensive employer brand. It would be fantastic to have additional support with this. 

We believe that there is a great opportunity to share content and knowledge with the following Solver Teams: Code Nation, Thaki, D2, Humans in the Loop, The Last Mile, Team Up 2 Teach and Laboratoria. 

We would also like to explore the feasibility of skills volunteering / mentorship from some of the corporate partners that are part of the Solve network such as Amazon, HP, General Motors and Nike etc. 

Finally it would be amazing to connect to MIT Faculty like Sanjay Sarma from Open Learning, who could provide insights into education impact at scale. 

Re:Coded's mission advances the economic inclusion of refugees across the Middle East by providing them with the skills, resources and networks to build a career in technology.

The Andan Prize for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion would provide us with the financial capital to scale our impact to millions and make a mark on the world as a new kind of non-profit.

Re:Coded's mission advances inclusion, digital literacy, and economic opportunity globally for under-served youth. 

The HP Prize for Advancing Digital Equity would provide us with the financial capital to scale our impact to millions and make a mark on the world as a new kind of non-profit.

One of the core tenets of our mission is to bridge the gender divide in technology. Our programs have strived to have at least 50% women, and, in 2019, we launched our first women-only program, which has grown four-fold in just one year, training 100 women in 4 cities in Iraq. Our commitment to gender equity is also reflected in leadership. Our CEO, Alexandra Clare, has been an advocate for women in technology and our leadership team is 65% women. We apply a gender lens to programs, keeping attendance, retention, and employment rates at similar levels for men and women.

The Innovation for Women Prize would provide us with the
financial capital to scale our impact to millions and make a mark on the
world as a new kind of non-profit.

Re:Coded's impact model supports STEM education through an innovative technology enabled model and in doing so, helps to spur economic growth, reduce inequality and unlock human potential of youth, regardless of circumstance. Our model also support four of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: SDG4, 5, 8 and 10

The The GSR Prize would provide us with the financial capital to scale our impact to millions and make a mark on the world as a new kind of non-profit.