Code Like a Girl

Smart50 Community Hero Award winner

This year’s Community Hero winner is none other than Code Like a Girl, a business forged from founder Ally Watson’s first-hand experience of the isolation and barriers associated with being a woman in a male-dominated industry.

Watson had always wanted to connect with women who loved coding, but when she hosted a casual meetup she couldn’t have foreseen the overwhelming response from women who wanted exactly the same thing. She quickly spotted an opportunity to positively impact the lives of many women who code.

“What started as a supportive networking meet-up quickly grew into a social enterprise that is having a measurable impact on tech’s gender imbalance,” Watson said.

Code Like a Girl attracts, trains and places women into software-engineering jobs. The business’ rapid growth is attributed to Watson’s authentic vision and contagious passion for the challenges that lie ahead for her industry.

Her own experiences have helped shape what Code Like a Girl offers. From her earliest memories of growing up in a council flat, the youngest of four daughters to a single mum, Watson holds a deep motivation to create innovative learning environments where every girl, no matter her background, feels included, inspired and capable in the world of technology.

For the first two-and-a-half years, Watson volunteered nights and weekends setting up and running the business while continuing her full-time job as a developer. That community spirit is still an integral part of Code Like a Girl’s mission, as Watson and her team continue to deliver extensive amounts of community outreach events and programs within Australia.

“Empowering women with the education and courage to take on the tech industry informs every single ambition I have,” Watson said.

“Both for the vision of Code Like a Girl and for my own career.”