Reflections on 2023: A letter from our CEO

In 2016, we launched a pilot program for 40 students in a small residential house on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq. Seven years later in 2023, we are now operating online bootcamps and courses at scale and enabling thousands of underserved and displaced talent to gain social and economic mobility in the technology industry.

This year, we are proud to have increased both the depth and the breadth of our impact. We expanded the geographic scope of our programs to North Africa and lay the groundwork for an expansion into Europe in 2024. We also trained record numbers of students, launched new online courses and put in place a strategy to align our programs with the shifts we witnessed in the technology industry. We are also proud to report that our bootcamp graduates reported, on average, a 3.2 increase in their incomes post program, showcasing the potential for economic mobility in just 6 months.

While it’s incredible to look back on all the hard work and achievements we had, 2023 also presented exceptional challenges. Our team and student’s resilience was tested by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria at the beginning of the year amidst an ever worsening economic crises across MENA. The escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict since October 7th also resulted in a severe crisis. It’s hard to express how profoundly disheartened we are by the scale of hardship that our partners, students and alumni have all experienced including grappling with displacement, loss of life and extreme financial distress.

Despite the challenging situation in the MENA region, we chose to start Re:Coded to make a difference and we believe that economic and social mobility for displaced and underserved populations is more important than ever. As we look towards 2024, we have ambitious plans to scale our impact and open up our programs to more people than ever before. A key priority for us over the coming years will also be to scale sustainably and ensure that at least 50% of our operational costs are covered by earned revenue. Our hope is that with a more diversified funding structure, we’ll be able to guarantee Re:Coded’s long-term impact. We are excited to see what this year holds for the organization.

We would not be here without our incredible team, partners, and students and their unwavering dedication to fostering a world of equity, where young people have the opportunity to realize their full potential.

My best wishes for a more hopeful and stable 2024,

Alexandra Clare, CEO