Re:Coded

Ongoing conflicts have caused millions to flee their homes and most are now living below the poverty line, where they face challenges accessing high-quality, market-driven training and employment. Yet, there are thousands of unfilled software engineering jobs and that number continues to grow. 

Re:Coded is a social impact organization integrating conflict affected youth into the labour market and taking on the global digital skills gap. Through our intensive programs, we train conflict affected youth for successful careers in the rapidly growing technology sector as software developers and entrepreneurs. In addition to providing training and career support through our 5 month fellowship program, Re:Coded’s innovative operating model includes Re:Coded Labs - a digital agency staffed by graduates from our programs.  

By connecting talent with opportunity, Re:Coded empowers graduates to bring change to their families, tech companies, and communities across the MENA region. 

We believe that while talent is universal, opportunity is not. Millions have been cut off from traditional ways of making a living due to political/economic strife, which has resulted in a generation of young people desperate for economic opportunities. Yet, there are thousands of unfilled software engineering jobs - this challenge is partially rooted in the growing mismatch between skills and employer needs. If unaddressed, the problem will likely intensify as the digital revolution transforms society, economies, jobs, and people’s lives. 

With the average rate of displacement estimated at 26 years, there is a need for a sustainable education/employment model not bound by geography and enables displaced individuals to rebuild their lives, learn market-relevant skills and prepare for the future of work. According to data from governments/key-stakeholders in countries that Re:Coded operates in, the qualified workforce gap in the IT sector hovers around 30%. Many local IT firms state that their number one problem is finding qualified candidates for open positions. Although there is a clear demand for qualified workers in the IT sector, vulnerable youth are working informally and lack training opportunities. Providing training that leads to employment/entrepreneurship opportunities offer a chance for more economic security and stability.

Re:Coded targets youth aged 18 - 30 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. 

We are integrating conflict affected youth into the labor market and taking on the global digital skills gap. Through our learning accelerators, we train youth for successful careers in the technology sector as software developers and tech entrepreneurs. At least 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 places a few times per week, when students and trainers come together in person 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. 

One of the most powerful components of our approach is the apprenticeship element. After completing the curriculum over the course of 3 months, students spend 2 months working in teams for a real client who wants a prototype web application or website developed. The Re:Coded team gives them support and advice during this journey, when they apply the skills they’ve learned and gain real work experience with a local or international clients.

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 generated through Re:Coded Labs is reinvested back into our education programs, to fuel our mission and growth.

 By connecting talent with opportunity, Re:Coded empowers graduates to bring change to their families, tech companies, and communities across MENA.

Re:Coded was the first organization 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 of just traditional skills like handicrafts and mechanics. Instead, Re:Coded has built a highly scalable learning community and a sustainable model of job creation that is 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 across MENA exist, our programs 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. In many bootcamps we have an integrated apprenticeship program. Students build MVPs for clients worldwide with support from our team. These clients have first right to hire our talent (30% conversion) and students graduate with work experience and project portfolios.
3. We constantly evolve our curriculum to best meet employer demands/fill voids in education systems. Our courses will now include blockchain and digital marketing.

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 both our technical and professional development curriculum. 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 under-performing. 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 conflict-affected youth and is contextualized in each new region in which we operate in to better address their needs and 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 include 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 or residence 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.

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.  

Theory of change: By teaching conflict-affected youth 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 will 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. 

How are we doing? 

• Of over 200 graduates, nearly 90% found employment within 6 months of graduation + on average, their salaries tripled

• 12 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: ~700

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: ~1,500

We hope to increase the number of beneficiaries and graduates across all of our current Re:Coded programs by 800. We also plan to expand geographically in MENA with potential opportunities to expand in either Jordan or Egypt. 

We plan to pilot our first program outside of MENA in the coming year. Re:Coded plans to build the technology ecosystem and skills capacity amongst youth in South Africa. 

We plan on formally launching Re:Coded Academy - an online learner platform which includes learner guides, customized career-prep, leadership and job readiness curricula through a mix of video content and text and assessments. The platform will also include access to some of our new technical curriculums including blockchain. This online 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: ~7,000

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.

In the next 3 - 5 years, we want to multiply the number of youth that we train by at least 10 by expanding our campus’ geographically to new markets such as South Africa, Jordan and Egypt, while continuing to strengthen and grow our existing programs.  

Over the next year: In Iraq, we plan to increase the number and types of training opportunities and increase membership at Re:Coded House (Erbil’s first co-working space). In Turkey, we plan to create a more sustained presence by holding workshops/events to cultivate a Re:Coded community on par with Iraq. This will allow us to expand our impact and transform the lives of hundreds of refugees/vulnerable youth. Although we would like the increase our presence in Yemen, the conflict inherently permits ability to provide more support, however, Re:Coded will hold bootcamps/offer support (albeit remotely). We plan to create an online repository for our learning materials. Students impacted by conflict will be able to access unimaginable opportunities that will allow them to enter the digital economy, regardless of where they live. 

Besides opening campuses in major markets, we will build partnerships with universities, tech hubs and governments in MENA, who with support from our trained teachers, will enable us to reach thousands of students. To ensure our model is replicable we are building a full Playbook of our operations. We will also start to scale Re:Coded Labs to more purpose driven organizations through a range of partnerships with startup accelerators such as WeWork Labs.

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 - and as a relatively new and small organization this has hampered our efforts to ramp up operations in Turkey and Yemen as well as to break into new markets such as Jordan and Egypt. 

Financial 

In the past year, additional staff members have been brought on with expertise in grant-writing crowdfunding, and marketing, among others. 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. 

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.

Re:Coded is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in the US with

branches operating in Iraq, Turkey, and Yemen. There are 22 full-time
staff and 1 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 lead 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 Chief Learning Officer, Sherif Abushadi has over 20 years of experience teaching over 3500 people to code (in-person) and has worked on projects, teams and workshops for companies like Stripe, Microsoft, Verizon, The Home Depot, as well as several US federal agencies including the Dept. of Education, the Dept. of Labor, the Dept. of Homeland Security, the Library of Congress and the Federal Aviation Administration. Re:Coded’s core staff of 23 come from a variety of different educational, personal, and professional backgrounds which 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.

Re:Coded has three groups of partnerships to deliver digital-skills training to conflict-affected youth. 

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 and Slack that have pledged to hire 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, and GIZ 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, 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 United States. Through our intensive programs, we train conflict affected youth in MENA for successful careers in the region’s rapidly growing technology sector as software developers and entrepreneurs, and help them become the next generation of tech leaders. At least 40% of our students are also female, 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.

Re:Coded is a non-profit organization is 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 throughout the MENA region 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. Additionally, the mentorship component of the Solve award would be instrumental in enabling us to understand how best to effectively scale our work. We also hope that Solve membership will increase our exposure, helping us to make connections with funders and potential board members. 

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 Moringa School in Africa to learn from them about different approaches to building a learning accelerator in a complex environment. Finally, we would love the opportunity to connect further with like-minded technology partners such as the Atlassian Foundation, 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 career prep. Refugees globally will be able to access life-changing training opportunities through Re:Coded Academy no matter their geographic location.

As a first step, Re:Coded aims to pilot this program in Turkey. 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 in Turkey. Leveraging Re:Coded’s extensive network in Turkey, and its commitment to gender equality and minority inclusion in the tech sector, our training programs select a minimum of 30% women participants.