For nearly two years Tiisetso Modubu has been writing code in the UK for American Express.
The young Pretoria woman’s success has its roots in the empowerment initiatives of Zandile Mkhwanazi, who does not want to see history repeat itself when it comes to women being left behind in industrial revolutions.
As the fourth industrial revolution unfolds, Mkhwanazi, the 29-year-old head of GirlCode – a nonprofit organisation empowering girls and women through technology – is on a mission to address gender disparity in the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector.
Mkhwanazi’s goal is an ambitious one: to teach 10 million girls how to code in 10 years.
Coding is the use of computer language to develop apps, websites and software.
Through the coder clubs, online boot camps and learnerships Mkhwanazi has on the go, GirlCode has had an impact on the lives of about 60,000 girls and women in SA.
Modubu, who became part of the GirlCode programme in 2018, is working as a software engineer at American Express and says her interest in the ICT world broadened “the moment I became part of GirlCode”.
I quit my job to focus my time and energy on creating an initiative to help bridge the gap no-one else was closing.
— Zandile Mkhwanazi
“I got exposure to different girls within the ICT industry as they shared their experiences. I was also part of the hackathon winners from 2018, where we won a trip to the European Women in Tech conference, and in 2019 I was a mentor at the AMEX hackathon, where I interviewed for their graduate programme in the UK and was one of the eight women offered to join.
“It takes girls like myself to encourage others interested in technology-related studies, where we are able to assure and guide them through their experience, creating communities that build up their confidence such as the one GirlCode continues to build.”
Pretoria-based Boipelo Magano, who has a diploma in software development, is part of a programme in which GirlCode has partnered with Amazon Web Services to train 30 unemployed women locally in a year-long software development engineer learnership.
“My love and passion for software development engineering has soared since I started the programme. I have since been given so much insight into the world of coding and programming, and I’ve also been fortunate enough to now access and engage on big platforms like Amazon and AWS.
“It has afforded me the liberty to confidently put my creative and analytical skills to use,” said Magano.
Johannesburg-based Mkhwanazi, who holds an honours degree in computational and applied mathematics, initially wanted to be a banker but became intrigued with the tech world when she got an opportunity to be part of an internship programme delving into coding.
“I fell in love with technology and what you can do in that space. I eventually landed up in a Pretoria tech startup.
“Working at a tech company opened my eyes to the shortage of women in the ICT space, especially after attending many tech events. I noticed there were only a handful of women, especially young black women, in those rooms. I realised that I had to do something about it.
“I quit my job to focus my time and energy on creating an initiative to help bridge the gap that no-one else was closing.”
GirlCode started with hosting all-women hackathons – where computer programmers and others involved in software development collaborate on software projects.
Since then GirlCode has introduced more programmes, such as the GirlCoder club and an online coding boot camp.
“It’s quite important for us as an organisation to make sure we go into rural communities and townships and expose girls to coding, the world of technology and the opportunities that exist there.
“I'm very passionate about making sure women are not left behind. In the past industrial revolutions women have had always been at the back. My organisation is really intent on bringing them to the forefront.
“We have quite an audacious goal of wanting to reach 10 million women in the next 10 years. I think it is something quite possible.
“We are building a tech platform which will allow anyone cross the continent, even the globe, to participate in our online coding programmes, where we’ll be teaching them our coding skills.”
GirlCode has been partnering with various companies such as fibre provider Vuma to continue to expose more girls and women to the software industry, provide practical development experiences and give access to industry leaders.
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