Stories by and about us
Curious to learn more about us? Here you’ll find stories by and about our diverse community of founders and coders making a social impact with technology all over the world.
Stories by us
Something in me whispered: “Be the builder”
Former Gaza Code Academy facilitator Yasmin Hillis, a self-declared hippie at heart, talks about how Virginia Woolf inspired her to begin writing code.
How two friends changed careers, learned to code, and built a startup
Katerina Pascoulis and Ruth Uwemedimo talk about what they learned from freelancing and why they love working together at Personably
Connecting the dots - A story of learning to code and giving back
Fatimat Gbajabiamila talks about challenging stereotypes, her love for pair programming, and why she’s committed to giving back
How to run free, peer-led coding bootcamps - an interview with Dan Sofer
Dan Sofer talks about running free, peer-led coding bootcamps in London and Gaza and why he loves working with nonprofits
From Coders to Founders: The Workerbird story
How Becky Botha and Johanna Herman learnt to code and launched Workerbird, a Tech for Good startup, in less than a year.
“The biggest challenge is checking yourself at the door”
Matt King talks about his experiences mentoring and facilitating at Founders and Coders in London…
Stories by us
How studying law helped me with programming
When I decided to learn to code, I didn’t expect there to be anything other than work ethic that would be transferable from my law degree.
London tech developers to set up new worker co-op
InFact Digital will work with charities, non-profits and businesses to solve their organisational problems
Building Little Window: how we created a chatbot for Chayn
Little Window — one of the first chatbot and AI innovations at the intersection of gender-based violence and tech for good.
The Mothercode: career-changing into tech with kids
What I learnt whilst embarking on a career switchup in the midst of family life.
4 Ways I Got Into My Dream Coding Bootcamp And How You Can Too
I’d imagined my reaction to a “yes” in many ways but couldn’t quite brace myself for the moment.
You might not need that $15K coding bootcamp
Coding bootcamps have exploded in popularity the past few years. I’m not against them. If they help you get started on a well-paid career in tech, \$15,000 USD might be worth it.
Fusing nonprofits with tech talent
Throw together four of the UK’s most innovative charities (aka our debut Fusiliers), 16 mega-brains in the form of Founders & Coders’ latest cohort
Perspectives: technology, mental health and children and young people
We’ve known for a while that the learning collaborative needs ways of accelerating the use of digital technology in children and young people’s mental health services.
How I learnt to code in a scarily short space of time
Six months ago I left my “wow, what you do sounds really interesting” job so I could teach myself to code. Before that happened there were multiple abandoned attempts to start learning. I wanted to write about that part for anyone who is as stuck as I was.
How To Choose The Right Coding Bootcamp
Last year I went through the Founders and Coders (FAC) software training program in London in order to turn my hobby into a living.
How I Became a Web Developer in 5 Months
One year ago I was a non-technical founder of a startup at the edge of bankruptcy. Today I work as a front end developer.
Not a hacker or a hipster: How I got my first start-up job
I was first introduced to start-ups as a career choice during my post-uni “I’m not getting a city job” phase. Although that’s still going strong I know a whole lot more about start-ups than I did back then.
Stories by us
Palestinian 'geeks' code their way to a better future in Gaza
Coding is empowering a new generation of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and helping many find work.
Boot camp rebels: tech developers quit corporate careers
Disappointed with “big tech”, coders are starting social impact start-ups. To some, technology companies represent the future — a world in which society’s rules have been rewritten. To others, they just offer more of the same.
The Free Coding Academy Model -- How To Teach Our Next Generation Of Programmers
The world needs more trained software engineers; it’s a basic fact. The world also urgently needs more of those trained software engineers to be female from an equality and diversity perspective; this is also a basic fact that is (thankfully) increasingly widely acknowledged.
Get with the program: the coders offering training for free
It’s the must-have skill-set of the 21st century, yet unless you’re rich enough to afford the training, or fortunate enough to be attending the right school, the barriers to learning can be high. Now a movement of pioneering coders is challenging the stereotype by offering free training for all