2023 EdTechX Award Winner Spotlight — Code First Girls
Recognised for driving tangible social change, Code First Girls was announced as the winner of the 2023 EdTechX Diversity and Inclusion Award. We spoke with CEO Anna Brailsford to find out more about the work they are doing to close the gender and diversity gap in the tech industry.
Can you tell us about your career to date?
I’m the CEO of Code First Girls (CFG), a Board Member for the Institute of Coding and an advisor to HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter.
My passion for getting more women into tech started when I co-founded my own EdTech startup and was the Commercial Director of Lynda.com. I am proud to have overseen LinkedIn’s acquisition of Lynda.com for $1.5 billion, becoming part of the fourth-largest acquisition in social media history; a deal which is, on paper, my greatest business achievement to date.
I started my career working for family-run businesses, and have always gravitated towards entrepreneurial roles and hyper-growth environments which is what drew me to the tech industry.
What is Code First Girl’s mission and what is your vision for the company?
CFG is a fast-growing, female-founded UK business making a real social impact. We are now the largest provider of free coding courses for women in the UK & Europe, having taught over 120,000 women to code. My team are on a mission to close the gender gap in the tech industry by providing employment through free education.
CFG courses are, on average, 600% oversubscribed, showing that despite the social and financial barriers to entry for women in tech, there is an appetite for coding education among women. Our courses are developed around industry needs and aligned to building regional economic opportunities for women.
We already work with 130 businesses including household names like NatWest, Nike, GCHQ, Skyscanner, Tesco, BT, and Rolls-Royce. We’ve also partnered with more than 80 universities across every region of the UK and Ireland meaning we can engage women in tech, who may not have engaged with STEM at school, before they start on the career ladder. We are extending and strengthening our relationships with businesses and institutions across the UK to get more women into tech roles and close the gender gap in the industry.
How does diversity benefit the tech industry?
Diversity in tech is key to giving businesses a competitive advantage. But there remains a serious gender and diversity gap in the industry. The UK’s tech job market is projected to be worth £30bn by 2025 — six times larger than it is now. However, as things stand, there will be 1 qualified woman for every 115 roles by 2025.
Companies operating in the tech industry have started to recognise they must draw on the widest range of voices and insights possible. But there is still a journey to go. They need the right mix of minds to tackle oncoming threats, crack codes and ensure security systems are less predictable.
With the industry increasingly turning to artificial intelligence and machine learning to replicate human decision making, having a range of people designing these systems will reduce their biases — which will be crucial to gaining an advantage.
With this in mind, businesses should be boosting the number of female employees in their ranks to diversify thinking. And they should look at more than gender too to ensure a truly diverse mix of minds — including ethnicity, socio-economic status, neurodiversity, and education status.
What is unique about CFG’s model of tech education?
CFG is unique in its offer — we provide free and accessible courses, giving learners the flexibility and autonomy they need to thrive. Our model allows learners to fit their studies flexibly around their lives — removing barriers for those in full-time education, work, or with caring responsibilities. As a result, CFG is able to support women into the tech industry at a scale not achieved by any other tech education provider. While there are other coding school providers in the space, the majority do not offer 100% free courses.
Unlike many of our competitors, CFG’s mission to support diversity in tech isn’t just about gender, but solving economic and regional inequalities too. 27% of our community were eligible for free school meals and 35% were part of the first generation to attend university. CFG supports those who otherwise would not have had opportunities to enter the tech industry. In doing this, we’re supporting social mobility, with tech jobs offering higher starting salaries than many other industries and independent analysis suggesting tech as a profession offers more social mobility than medicine and law.
What is your top career achievement?
I’ve had many achievements that I’ve been proud of during my career — I mentioned the acquisition of Lynda — but I’m now proudest of my work at CFG. Specifically, securing £4.5m in funding from prolific female angel investors and investment firm Active Partners to achieve not only incredible business growth, but to make real, tangible social change.
Our investors include CEOs of leading companies like Bloom & Wild, Wise and Clearscore, providing a strong vote of confidence in CFG’s pioneering model. The fact that these major tech leaders are investing in CFG is a huge vote of confidence in our model, which they see as a core solution to the tech gender gap.
Likewise, what is the biggest challenge you have faced in your career?
I’ve faced countless challenges but I find the fear of personal and professional failure can often hold people back. It’s taken me some time to accept that you can’t always get it right and you have to get comfortable with failure.
The biggest challenge at CFG has been learning to love the word “no”. There are many times when you have to accept that other people just don’t think like you, let alone look or sound like you. You have to acknowledge the odds are stacked against you when you fundraise as a woman — but you never have to accept the status quo.
What are Code First Girl’s ambitions?
The global tech job market is projected to grow by an additional 149 million roles across software, data AI/ML and cyber by 2025. Locally in the UK, the tech job market is projected to be worth £30bn by 2025. This deficit is even greater in regions like the US, where there will be only 1 qualified woman for every 772 tech roles by 2025.
We’ve already generated £5m this year, seen 10x growth since 2019/20, and we’re on a trajectory to reach £100m revenue by 2026.
Our aim is to provide one million opportunities for women to learn to code and participate in the industry over the next five years. As part of this, we aim to put over 26,000 women through our CFGdegree and place them into tech roles with our partner companies, in turn, generating over £1bn in economic opportunities for women entering into the tech industry.
We’re eyeing up further international expansion and will launch in the Netherlands and US this year. Access to new markets will help CFG become the world’s first EdTech unicorn dedicated to women.
What advice would you give to girls or women starting their careers in STEM, or those considering changing their career to a role in the tech industry?
My number one piece of advice for women and girls who want to start a career in STEM is not to be afraid. Whilst coding, technology and STEM may be entirely new and unknown to you, you would be an asset to the sector. There are many transferable skills that can help you when it comes to coding, including innovative thinking, attention to detail, patience and communication — many of which you may already be demonstrating in your current role. So, try to be comfortable with trying different things and embrace the opportunity to learn something new. You never know — you may find your hidden talent!
Also, it’s important to take advantage of coding communities and network with like-minded women to get the support you need. Whether it’s a technical question or an industry query, speaking to other women can help you to boost your learning and achieve your career goals, as they are likely to have experienced some of the same issues.
