From China to Mexico and beyond: Code Club Growth Leaders

At Code Club, we think everyone should have the opportunity to learn to code, no matter who they are or where they come from. James Aslett, International Programme Manager for Code Club, shares the launch of the new Growth Leaders programme, where we are working with other like-minded organisations to make this vision come true.

Today, 4 out of 5 countries in the world have at least one active Code Club — in indigenous communities in Australia, favelas in Brazil, isolated parts of northern Canada, and thousands of towns and cities in between. That’s amazing! But we want to grow the Code Club network even more, so we can reach our goal of having a club in every community in the world.

This is why we’ve launched a new partnership programme called Growth Leaders so we can collaborate with expert not-for-profit organisations across the globe to bring Code Club to children in their communities.

The Growth Leaders programme

Over the last six years, we’ve spent a lot of time researching the best way to support and grow Code Clubs. We have packaged up all this experience together with lots of engaging resources, and are offering all this to other not-for-profit organisations for free. In return, we ask that these organisations commit to helping grow the Code Club network, upholding our values, and supporting our volunteers to get started.

From Zhejiang to Mexico City

The organisation Happy Coding was already teaching robotics to young people in high schools in Zhejiang when the team joined our pilot phase of Growth Leaders. They were looking for a way to reach primary school children, most of whom weren’t receiving any formal coding education. With support from Code Club, in just three months they have been able to set up an amazing 17 Code Clubs in public schools!

“I chose Code Club because of its success in many other countries and the opportunity to learn from and interact with non-profits in other countries. Being part of the Growth Leaders network gives me access to great resources that encourage children to code for the first time.” – Xia Tianyan, Founder of Happy Coding

For Jacaranda, another organisation in the Growth Leader pilot, Code Club works perfectly alongside changes happening in the education system in Mexico. As well as supporting students in schools, Jacaranda has also facilitated summer courses in a public library in Mexico City, including a popular girls-only course.

“The Code Club programme has so far proved to be a great way to get schools, teachers, and students on the road and started and connected with STEAM, making, and twenty-first century learning in a variety of contexts.” – Michael Beckwith, Director of Operations at Jacaranda

Could you become a Growth Leader?

Our Growth Leaders programme is now open to applications from non-profit organisations around the world! If you are part of an organisation that might be interested, find out more on the Growth Leader page on our website.