WEBVTT - The Tech Gender Gap is Solvable 0:00:15.076 --> 0:00:25.156 Pushkin im Ave Higgins and this is Solvable interviews with 0:00:25.196 --> 0:00:29.636 the world's most innovative thinkers working to solve the world's 0:00:29.716 --> 0:00:34.236 biggest problems. My solvable is to get one million women 0:00:34.316 --> 0:00:36.516 and girls to learn how to code by the year 0:00:36.596 --> 0:00:39.556 twenty thirty. I'm the Good is about coding. At the 0:00:39.596 --> 0:00:42.556 same time, it's about giving women and girls power to 0:00:42.596 --> 0:00:46.436 go and change their lives. In this episode, Jacob Weisberg 0:00:46.556 --> 0:00:51.276 is in conversation with technologist and activist maryam jam So, 0:00:51.476 --> 0:00:56.556 think of everything you've ever done on a computer, searching, sending, playing, paying, 0:00:57.196 --> 0:01:00.956 and think of the role computers play in medicine, in science, 0:01:00.996 --> 0:01:05.516 and transportation. None of this could happen without software, and 0:01:05.716 --> 0:01:11.276 software basically is code. Coder might be quiet, but they're powerful. 0:01:11.876 --> 0:01:14.316 Now you probably know about the gender gaps in the 0:01:14.356 --> 0:01:18.876 field of health and education, and in economic and political opportunity, 0:01:19.316 --> 0:01:22.676 as well as security and just well being. You know 0:01:22.756 --> 0:01:26.676 about them because you personally experience those gaps, or maybe 0:01:26.716 --> 0:01:28.636 you're just one of the lucky ones who have heard 0:01:28.636 --> 0:01:33.196 about them well. The Rockefella Foundation has also gathered comprehensive 0:01:33.276 --> 0:01:38.316 data documenting a digital gender gap and estimated two hundred 0:01:38.436 --> 0:01:42.796 million fewer women are online compared to men. In June 0:01:42.876 --> 0:01:47.596 twenty eighteen, GSMA, which reports on the mobile industry, published 0:01:47.676 --> 0:01:52.756 data on the gender inequality in mobile technology aka the 0:01:52.836 --> 0:01:55.836 way most of us around the world access the Internet. 0:01:56.516 --> 0:01:59.436 Women on average are twenty six percent less likely to 0:01:59.556 --> 0:02:03.076 use mobile internet than men, especially in low and middle 0:02:03.116 --> 0:02:07.436 income countries and who makes the Internet well here in 0:02:07.476 --> 0:02:10.076 the US. In twenty sixteen, Google we found that black 0:02:10.116 --> 0:02:13.556 and Hispanic students were one point five and one point 0:02:13.596 --> 0:02:16.996 seven times more likely to have an interest in learning 0:02:16.996 --> 0:02:20.676 computer science, but they're the very ones who are less 0:02:20.676 --> 0:02:24.476 likely to have access to those resources. Two thirds of 0:02:24.476 --> 0:02:28.156 white students report using computers at home, whereas only half 0:02:28.196 --> 0:02:31.476 of black and Hispanic students do so. If you're female, 0:02:31.516 --> 0:02:35.476 if you grew up disadvantaged, it's tough to maneuver yourself 0:02:35.556 --> 0:02:39.396 into the important and ever expanding world that is coding, 0:02:40.076 --> 0:02:42.956 that is basically making computers do what we want them 0:02:42.956 --> 0:02:48.316 to do. That is until maryam came along. Maryam Dam 0:02:48.556 --> 0:02:51.756 knows what it's like to go from being powerless to powerful. 0:02:52.316 --> 0:02:56.676 Her life is pretty extraordinary. Today, she's a pioneer in 0:02:56.716 --> 0:02:59.516 system change and was named a Young Global Leader of 0:02:59.556 --> 0:03:03.636 the World Economic Forum for her work supporting women and girls, 0:03:04.316 --> 0:03:07.076 but all of that came after she was abandoned as 0:03:07.076 --> 0:03:10.396 a child in rural Senegal, before being raped at eleven 0:03:10.516 --> 0:03:13.916 years old and traffic to France, where the abuse continued. 0:03:14.836 --> 0:03:17.636 Mariam made her way to England and at sixteen years old, 0:03:17.676 --> 0:03:20.476 she used a local library to teach herself how to 0:03:20.556 --> 0:03:24.756 read and write. She eventually became a technologist and quickly 0:03:24.836 --> 0:03:28.476 understood the power that that held. She sees her life 0:03:28.476 --> 0:03:32.116 now as a roadmap for other young girls. Jacob and 0:03:32.196 --> 0:03:34.836 Mariam get into that and it is so much more too. 0:03:34.836 --> 0:03:37.276 So enjoy this conversation and I'll see you on the 0:03:37.276 --> 0:03:43.036 other side. Mary. But obviously your effort to teach girls 0:03:43.116 --> 0:03:47.036 to code reflects your own experience. I wonder if you 0:03:47.076 --> 0:03:49.076 can tell me a little bit about how you came 0:03:49.076 --> 0:03:53.116 to this idea. I am from Senegal, West Africa. That's 0:03:53.156 --> 0:03:55.036 where I was born. When I was growing up, I 0:03:55.076 --> 0:03:57.196 didn't have any education, so I didn't go to school. 0:03:58.236 --> 0:04:00.636 I couldn't read and write until I was sixteen years old, 0:04:00.956 --> 0:04:04.276 and when I was eleven years old, I was abused 0:04:04.316 --> 0:04:07.236 by my colonic teaching. My country is a Muslim country, 0:04:07.396 --> 0:04:10.236 so when I was thirteen years old. I was trafficked 0:04:10.236 --> 0:04:13.116 from Senegal to France and I ended up in the UK. 0:04:13.636 --> 0:04:15.516 So I used to do cleaning jobs and working in 0:04:15.636 --> 0:04:18.636 bars and hotels. I see people in suit and things 0:04:18.636 --> 0:04:20.676 like that, and I wanted to find a job. And 0:04:21.196 --> 0:04:23.516 I remember the you know, some of the ladies were 0:04:23.556 --> 0:04:25.356 telling me, you know, we can't find your job because 0:04:25.356 --> 0:04:27.916 you don't have any skills. We can't put you in banks, 0:04:28.076 --> 0:04:30.836 or we can't put you, you know, in supermarkets things 0:04:30.876 --> 0:04:33.636 like that, because you need to communicate. Also you need 0:04:33.676 --> 0:04:36.516 to speak English. My English was very very broken. And 0:04:36.556 --> 0:04:39.756 then slowly, slowly I started going to local library, start 0:04:39.796 --> 0:04:43.076 learning how to read, and you know, being very disciplined 0:04:43.116 --> 0:04:46.556 and focused, and every day I'll spend two hours at 0:04:46.556 --> 0:04:51.236 the library. And then I started learning mats and how 0:04:51.316 --> 0:04:55.356 to imput data on Excel. I started to learn how 0:04:55.396 --> 0:04:58.476 to code. In that time, Google was born. On their platform, 0:04:58.556 --> 0:05:01.436 they had a blog. People can write and then the 0:05:01.516 --> 0:05:03.956 blog will be converted. You know, you can write some 0:05:03.996 --> 0:05:07.436 texts and the text will be converted into into blog. 0:05:07.476 --> 0:05:11.356 And discover that. In that time, I had had so 0:05:11.476 --> 0:05:14.116 many anger in me and and sow many frustration. I 0:05:14.156 --> 0:05:17.116 was asking myself why I was in the UK, you know, 0:05:17.116 --> 0:05:19.556 why my mum abandoned us as children. So I had 0:05:19.596 --> 0:05:23.276 a lot of ications and then I was looking at 0:05:23.316 --> 0:05:26.316 BBC and TV and all these channels, and then I 0:05:26.396 --> 0:05:31.396 just saw Bob Geldof and Bono doing the doing the 0:05:31.516 --> 0:05:34.396 live aid things. That just really makes me very upset. 0:05:34.476 --> 0:05:36.876 And I think that the way they came about was like, 0:05:36.956 --> 0:05:39.436 you know, okay, we are the saviors of Africa. We're 0:05:39.436 --> 0:05:42.076 going to save the whole world. You were upset because 0:05:42.116 --> 0:05:44.796 it was it seemed condescending. You. Yeah, it was really 0:05:44.796 --> 0:05:47.876 weird because I saw that, you know, like everybody was 0:05:47.916 --> 0:05:50.236 talking about poverty. And then I said, well, you know, 0:05:50.836 --> 0:05:53.476 actually I was this sort of I was the young 0:05:53.556 --> 0:05:56.116 women in Africa growing up and you didn't do anything 0:05:56.116 --> 0:05:58.356 about it, and you know, it wasn't their fault really, 0:05:58.396 --> 0:06:01.676 but I think people could understand my frustration. And then 0:06:01.716 --> 0:06:04.996 I wrote a an open letter to Bono and Bob 0:06:04.996 --> 0:06:08.156 Geldof for the first time and asked them to back 0:06:08.196 --> 0:06:10.676 off from Africa. You wrote to them just to make 0:06:10.716 --> 0:06:13.836 this clear on the blog that you created after teaching 0:06:13.836 --> 0:06:16.716 yourself to read and write, teaching yourself to code, and 0:06:16.756 --> 0:06:21.436 building yourself at a public library. Yeah, my first open 0:06:21.516 --> 0:06:24.236 letter was to Bob Geldof and Bono. You were just 0:06:24.276 --> 0:06:26.636 asking them to back off from Africa. And then the 0:06:26.716 --> 0:06:29.396 Guardian pick it up, show it to Bob Geldoff. He 0:06:29.436 --> 0:06:32.396 didn't like it. You know, Bono didn't like it either, 0:06:32.476 --> 0:06:35.796 and they thought that I was very ungrateful as an African. Anyway, 0:06:35.796 --> 0:06:38.396 that created a conversation and then you know, in the 0:06:38.556 --> 0:06:41.396 end they actually saw, you know my point, and that 0:06:41.436 --> 0:06:45.716 created a One International, which is now Bono's organization. I 0:06:45.796 --> 0:06:47.876 got called to come in and find a way to 0:06:47.876 --> 0:06:51.796 help them understand that the message they're trying to portray 0:06:51.876 --> 0:06:54.196 in Europe is to too different to what's happening on 0:06:54.276 --> 0:06:59.116 the ground. It's such an amazing story that after suffering 0:06:59.236 --> 0:07:05.676 this abuse and neglect, lack of education sixteen, you taught 0:07:05.716 --> 0:07:09.996 yourself to do all of these things that people with 0:07:10.156 --> 0:07:13.396 tremendous opportunities in many cases haven't haven't learned to do, 0:07:13.476 --> 0:07:16.116 such as coding the way you have. I mean, it 0:07:16.196 --> 0:07:19.636 raises the question, marm, whether you're just an extraordinary person 0:07:20.276 --> 0:07:22.396 or whether you're a model that a lot of other 0:07:23.396 --> 0:07:26.596 poor people can follow. I get to ask that question. 0:07:26.796 --> 0:07:29.636 I don't think I'm special, but I think that the 0:07:29.916 --> 0:07:33.236 trauma I've lived as a child, you know, we'll never 0:07:33.316 --> 0:07:36.436 go away, still is still on me. And I see 0:07:36.476 --> 0:07:39.196 that with young girls growing up in refuge comes. For example, 0:07:39.836 --> 0:07:42.916 when you've been through difficulty in life and you've been 0:07:42.956 --> 0:07:46.676 through trauma, you try to find a way to get by. 0:07:46.796 --> 0:07:49.716 And this is the mentality I have now, where I 0:07:49.836 --> 0:07:52.476 leave day by day. Every days it is another day, 0:07:52.636 --> 0:07:55.156 and I just think that, you know, I become very 0:07:55.196 --> 0:07:59.756 tenacious in getting things done. Why the focus on coding 0:07:59.956 --> 0:08:05.916 as the skill that can provide this vehicle, particularly for girls, 0:08:06.036 --> 0:08:09.116 to get out of their terrible circumstances. I mean, presumably 0:08:09.276 --> 0:08:11.956 there are lots of skills you could learn as a 0:08:12.236 --> 0:08:15.516 young person that would help you out of poverty, help 0:08:15.596 --> 0:08:19.796 give you access to power, to the wider world. It 0:08:19.916 --> 0:08:23.516 started when I started to learn match at the library 0:08:23.556 --> 0:08:28.196 and then starting reading dictionaries and understanding words, because bear 0:08:28.236 --> 0:08:30.116 in mind, when I came to the UK, I couldn't 0:08:30.156 --> 0:08:33.276 understand English, I couldn't decode the information, and so you 0:08:33.276 --> 0:08:35.116 could put words in front of me, I wouldn't really 0:08:35.156 --> 0:08:38.836 understand them. I used to pick up books with numbers 0:08:38.916 --> 0:08:42.636 and I start coding really using XHML was from the 0:08:42.636 --> 0:08:45.116 beginning because I could put some numbers and then it 0:08:45.116 --> 0:08:48.036 will translate on a page. And then I think that 0:08:48.076 --> 0:08:49.836 what I'm trying to do now is trying to talk 0:08:49.836 --> 0:08:53.516 to girls about digital skills and many many of the 0:08:53.556 --> 0:08:56.156 applications we use around the world, for example, people don't 0:08:56.156 --> 0:08:58.916 know how it was made. And I've been always fascinated 0:08:58.956 --> 0:09:02.196 in how things are made and designed, and you know 0:09:02.236 --> 0:09:05.756 who is behind the things doing things. And I like 0:09:05.876 --> 0:09:08.836 to see things being translated in numbers, but also being 0:09:08.876 --> 0:09:13.316 translated inwards. And I see this with refugees now in city, 0:09:13.316 --> 0:09:16.516 and refugees and people in Lebanon, for example, when you 0:09:16.556 --> 0:09:20.156 are poor or you've been traumatized you are, you consume 0:09:20.276 --> 0:09:23.236 information very very quickly. So I have a photographic memory 0:09:23.236 --> 0:09:26.836 where I don't forget things. Although that combination have helped 0:09:26.876 --> 0:09:29.756 me to learn how to code seven code in languages 0:09:29.796 --> 0:09:31.996 in two years. And then I had to go back 0:09:32.036 --> 0:09:33.956 to the agency to tell them, actually, now I'm a 0:09:34.036 --> 0:09:38.756 couda and lady didn't understand what I was saying. So 0:09:39.036 --> 0:09:41.116 now I'm a couda and I build a website and 0:09:41.156 --> 0:09:44.836 I'm a full stack developer. I really like numbers in wards. 0:09:45.836 --> 0:09:49.236 Your organization has the very suggestive and interesting name I 0:09:49.316 --> 0:09:52.676 Am the Code, which I guess speaks to that pride 0:09:52.716 --> 0:09:55.356 in learning it. But also, you know, we use the 0:09:55.396 --> 0:09:58.436 expression cracking the code when you figure something out, and 0:09:58.476 --> 0:10:02.636 it's not just learning to program and write software, but 0:10:02.796 --> 0:10:05.356 figuring out this larger code of how the world works. 0:10:05.356 --> 0:10:08.556 Am I reading too much into the name of your organization? No, No, 0:10:08.556 --> 0:10:10.476 you're absolutely right, But I think there was something else 0:10:10.476 --> 0:10:13.036 about it, because I think what happened is during the years, 0:10:13.636 --> 0:10:17.316 I was called to give, you know, a major speech 0:10:17.356 --> 0:10:20.076 at Davos, and I was very very nervous, and I 0:10:20.116 --> 0:10:22.396 didn't know what to do and what to say. I've 0:10:22.436 --> 0:10:25.516 never met those influential, powerful people before. And then I 0:10:25.876 --> 0:10:27.716 said to my son, you know, what do you think 0:10:27.756 --> 0:10:29.796 I should say? My son said, well, mommy, you are 0:10:29.836 --> 0:10:34.116 the code. And what I translated from that conversation was, 0:10:34.796 --> 0:10:37.556 you know, I'm tenacious. I don't give up, you know, 0:10:37.636 --> 0:10:41.596 despite all the timultuous childhood I had, I don't give up. 0:10:41.636 --> 0:10:44.196 And then despite that, I'm helping all the young women 0:10:44.516 --> 0:10:48.916 to get confidence. And that then created a massive conversation 0:10:48.956 --> 0:10:52.236 at Davos because I was the first senegalist woman to 0:10:52.276 --> 0:10:55.036 teach white middle class women in Guildford where I leave 0:10:55.036 --> 0:10:57.356 how to code, and now we have many, many women 0:10:57.436 --> 0:11:00.396 coding there. But what I'm saying is that yes, you 0:11:00.436 --> 0:11:02.116 are the code. You can learn how to code, but 0:11:02.196 --> 0:11:05.156 at the same time, you have the key to unlucky 0:11:05.156 --> 0:11:08.276 your life. You have the key to build your life. 0:11:08.276 --> 0:11:11.516 Despite you know all the challenges and all the difficulty, 0:11:12.156 --> 0:11:15.116 you can get this key and go in and open 0:11:15.156 --> 0:11:17.916 the doors for yourself and for other people. So I 0:11:17.916 --> 0:11:19.996 am the code is about coding at the same time, 0:11:20.036 --> 0:11:23.436 it's about giving women and girls power to go and 0:11:23.516 --> 0:11:28.756 change their lives. Software has traditionally been dominated by men, 0:11:28.876 --> 0:11:33.156 and so many of the issues we're seeing now around 0:11:33.196 --> 0:11:40.716 harassment and abuse online around software encoding discrimination seems to 0:11:40.756 --> 0:11:45.076 reflect to some extent that it's men who've written most 0:11:45.116 --> 0:11:47.396 of it. Do you see that as part of the 0:11:47.436 --> 0:11:52.636 problem you're addressing by bringing women into coding and software design. 0:11:53.036 --> 0:11:56.116 That's true, men men have done that, But I think also, 0:11:56.676 --> 0:11:58.596 you know, women used to crack the code, and they 0:11:58.676 --> 0:12:01.836 used to decode information, but it never had any visibility 0:12:02.516 --> 0:12:05.156 or any credit given to them. For many, many years, 0:12:05.436 --> 0:12:09.716 we had many women inventors who understood mathematics, centers, science, 0:12:10.356 --> 0:12:13.556 they understood so many you know, how the world was functioning. 0:12:13.636 --> 0:12:15.516 They actually, you know, if you just look at the 0:12:15.556 --> 0:12:18.996 GPS was invented by by a woman. But I think 0:12:19.036 --> 0:12:23.556 sometimes we just forgot those stories and those inventors who 0:12:23.676 --> 0:12:26.276 have helped us become who we are today. You know, 0:12:26.276 --> 0:12:29.956 we're not giving confidence to young women to go for it, 0:12:30.036 --> 0:12:32.996 not just you know, because they can, but also women 0:12:33.116 --> 0:12:36.876 have more empathy, They have more compassion and kindness when 0:12:36.876 --> 0:12:41.236 they're designing solutions because they design solutions for their communities 0:12:41.276 --> 0:12:44.556 and for you know, the real problems. Men they design 0:12:44.636 --> 0:12:46.596 things because they you know, it's kinde of like cool, 0:12:46.676 --> 0:12:49.076 and they can make money or they can just launch 0:12:49.116 --> 0:12:52.876 an ip O very quickly. But you know, women design 0:12:52.996 --> 0:12:55.476 things to you know, to help their communities and help 0:12:55.556 --> 0:12:59.276 their friends. That's what I saw my young women actually doing. 0:13:00.316 --> 0:13:03.116 And it's one thing to try to teach women to 0:13:03.396 --> 0:13:05.876 code and Guildford. It's another thing to try to teach 0:13:06.236 --> 0:13:10.556 young women to code and sanegal example, there must be 0:13:10.636 --> 0:13:13.756 a lot of obstacles to trying to set up and 0:13:13.756 --> 0:13:15.916 communicate what we're trying to communicate in some of the 0:13:15.956 --> 0:13:18.316 places you're trying to do it, can you talk about 0:13:18.436 --> 0:13:21.116 some of those challenges. That's very true. We have a 0:13:21.116 --> 0:13:23.916 lot of challenges where the women we have in Guiltful 0:13:23.956 --> 0:13:26.556 are totally different through women we have in the refugee 0:13:26.556 --> 0:13:29.756 campaign Kenya in Senegal. But I would have learned during 0:13:29.756 --> 0:13:32.596 the last three years is that it's not a location problem. 0:13:32.836 --> 0:13:35.876 Is actually the all smart young women who wants to 0:13:35.956 --> 0:13:39.196 learn a different skill. So we have changed the world 0:13:39.276 --> 0:13:42.276 coding to digital skills. For example, we are helping young 0:13:42.316 --> 0:13:46.196 women to become digitally intelligent. They know how Instagram was crazy, 0:13:46.316 --> 0:13:49.316 how Facebook was created, and we help them get into 0:13:49.356 --> 0:13:52.876 the information where they know how actually the solution we're created. 0:13:53.276 --> 0:13:55.836 And I think that if we start giving young women 0:13:55.916 --> 0:13:59.436 and girls the power to understand, you know, how wire 0:13:59.516 --> 0:14:02.676 frames are made and how things are written the code 0:14:02.676 --> 0:14:04.676 behind is how to edit it and have to review 0:14:04.716 --> 0:14:07.316 the code and how to make it more empattiic for example, 0:14:07.916 --> 0:14:10.436 or how the AI, how the data was collected and 0:14:10.796 --> 0:14:15.236 who is involved. We're now in sixty four countries. I've 0:14:15.236 --> 0:14:18.796 seen so many young women and girls and it's really 0:14:18.836 --> 0:14:22.316 not a location problem, but it's a systematic problem. And 0:14:22.356 --> 0:14:25.756 that's why go in and teaching young women goes mathematics 0:14:25.756 --> 0:14:29.756 and basic science and helping them understand the global issues 0:14:29.756 --> 0:14:33.036 like climate change, gender equality. You know, how do you 0:14:33.076 --> 0:14:36.156 read this inequality? And how do you get a bank account? 0:14:36.196 --> 0:14:38.996 Things like that helps a young woman to become very 0:14:39.036 --> 0:14:43.596 powerful because she knows she's participating. That's how she changed 0:14:43.636 --> 0:14:47.796 her community, changed her lives, and then there's less abuse 0:14:47.876 --> 0:14:51.836 for example, and she's very very confident afterward. I think 0:14:51.876 --> 0:14:55.396 the training sessions you run are open to boys as well, 0:14:55.476 --> 0:14:58.716 although maybe they're more girls than boys. Is there a 0:14:58.756 --> 0:15:04.476 difference in trying to teach girls or teach boys to code? No, no, 0:15:04.516 --> 0:15:06.876 there's not a big difference. The reason why we want 0:15:06.876 --> 0:15:09.356 you to include some of the boys because we when 0:15:09.396 --> 0:15:10.956 we set up I AM the Code and the mission 0:15:11.076 --> 0:15:14.116 was to actually get one million women and girls coders. 0:15:14.116 --> 0:15:16.516 And we find out that when we're doing the clubs, 0:15:16.636 --> 0:15:18.476 boys want to be part of it. And if you 0:15:18.516 --> 0:15:22.636 look into some Muslim countries like in Afghanistan, in Senegal, 0:15:22.796 --> 0:15:26.476 in Sudan for example, we need to get the boys involved. 0:15:26.676 --> 0:15:30.596 And in Mali in his chair because despite us going 0:15:30.636 --> 0:15:33.316 and teaching girls how to code, there are some social 0:15:33.356 --> 0:15:36.556 issues where the young woman is still, you know, look 0:15:36.636 --> 0:15:40.276 down to you know, the parents are not very confident 0:15:40.276 --> 0:15:42.876 in letting them go. So we get the young boys, 0:15:43.316 --> 0:15:45.436 you know, who are almost like their brothers and their 0:15:45.436 --> 0:15:48.116 cousins to be part of the clubs and then support 0:15:48.156 --> 0:15:50.476 the young women to be part of it. In Senegal, 0:15:50.716 --> 0:15:52.476 we had to get some of the boys to come 0:15:52.516 --> 0:15:55.796 and support the young women. And we respect the culture 0:15:55.876 --> 0:15:58.276 of the countries, but it's very important with his young 0:15:58.316 --> 0:16:01.236 boys gender equality and how to be kind to young 0:16:01.396 --> 0:16:04.476 women and girls, and then they usually work together. We 0:16:04.516 --> 0:16:05.956 just want to make sure that we create at a 0:16:05.956 --> 0:16:08.716 bit of balance but also help young boys to be 0:16:08.756 --> 0:16:10.796 part of that. I am the Coode movement because I 0:16:10.836 --> 0:16:14.036 believe that the only way we can achieve gender equality 0:16:14.196 --> 0:16:18.996 is by educating boys and men to understand women issues. 0:16:19.996 --> 0:16:22.636 Some of the people you've taught have already started to 0:16:22.676 --> 0:16:25.996 have meaningful success in their careers and some of them 0:16:26.076 --> 0:16:30.716 are becoming entrepreneurs. Is that part of your mission? Are 0:16:30.756 --> 0:16:34.076 you helping to coach people to start their own businesses, 0:16:34.116 --> 0:16:37.356 to start their own organizations? Yeah? When we have women 0:16:37.396 --> 0:16:43.116 millionnaires in Senegal, so we have amazing young women who 0:16:43.156 --> 0:16:46.436 are now entrepreneurs. They're doing amazing. Well in their countries, 0:16:46.556 --> 0:16:50.316 they're building solutions, They're sitting government for example, they sit 0:16:50.356 --> 0:16:53.156 in telecom companies. You know, some of our young girls 0:16:53.156 --> 0:16:55.716 are our mothers. The children are now coming back to 0:16:55.756 --> 0:16:57.876 the I Am the Code program that I Am the 0:16:57.916 --> 0:17:00.476 Code idea has been cooking for the last five years 0:17:00.836 --> 0:17:02.956 and beyond that. So all the young women have been 0:17:02.956 --> 0:17:06.516 mentoring for the last ten years have now become you 0:17:06.556 --> 0:17:08.556 know that I AM the Code ambassadors. They're taking I 0:17:08.556 --> 0:17:12.556 Am the Code their communities. He has almost become this family. 0:17:12.636 --> 0:17:15.236 Now people are paying back and giving back to the 0:17:15.276 --> 0:17:18.956 community and they're now building their businesses. Who are really 0:17:18.996 --> 0:17:22.476 really important for the Africa tech ecosystem because in the past, 0:17:22.516 --> 0:17:25.916 we didn't think about women as agent of change or 0:17:26.196 --> 0:17:30.996 agent of economic development. But we fought many African women 0:17:31.116 --> 0:17:34.796 and young women were seen as object of development. You know, 0:17:34.836 --> 0:17:39.316 the NGOs just giving handout and helping them with agriculture 0:17:39.316 --> 0:17:42.516 programs things like that. But now the women actually designing 0:17:42.556 --> 0:17:46.276 their own e commerce sides. They're designing their own solutions 0:17:46.276 --> 0:17:50.076 in Senegal, in Kenya, for example, their climate change activists, 0:17:50.356 --> 0:17:53.836 they're using technology to create campaigns. For example, one of 0:17:53.876 --> 0:17:56.596 our young women in Kenya has a lot of work 0:17:56.636 --> 0:18:00.236 on deforestation. So the idea really is to use technology 0:18:00.316 --> 0:18:02.476 as a way of empowering this young women and girls, 0:18:03.236 --> 0:18:05.916 but at the same time teaching them skills that will 0:18:05.956 --> 0:18:09.396 give them job, give them money, and ultimately, you know, 0:18:09.436 --> 0:18:12.196 they become very proud of themselves. That's that's the goal 0:18:12.196 --> 0:18:15.116 of I Am the Coode. You talk about teaching a 0:18:15.236 --> 0:18:18.876 million girls to code by twenty thirty in just a decade. 0:18:18.876 --> 0:18:21.156 How are you doing on that goal and how realistic 0:18:21.316 --> 0:18:24.836 is that? Oh, it's very realistic. We've done so far. 0:18:24.996 --> 0:18:27.276 Fourteen thousand young women and girls are part of the 0:18:27.276 --> 0:18:30.116 I Am the Code program and we didn't have any peer, 0:18:30.236 --> 0:18:34.476 any marketing in sixty four countries. It's really overwhelming to 0:18:34.516 --> 0:18:38.036 see how the program has reached so many many women, 0:18:38.116 --> 0:18:41.276 not just in Africa, but across the world in China 0:18:41.316 --> 0:18:44.876 and Japan. Is very large now and it's quite a 0:18:44.996 --> 0:18:48.836 humbling to see young women having their lives changed through 0:18:48.876 --> 0:18:52.236 I Am the Code. I didn't expect that. So fourteen 0:18:52.276 --> 0:18:55.076 thousand to a million, you have, by my calculation, nine 0:18:55.116 --> 0:18:58.796 hundred and eighty six thousand to go. How will you 0:18:58.836 --> 0:19:01.516 finance that? Who will help to support you? In that 0:19:01.836 --> 0:19:05.236 incredibly ambitious goal. We will reach the goal because we 0:19:05.276 --> 0:19:08.596 have over twenty seven companies worldwide who have committed to 0:19:08.596 --> 0:19:11.836 the number of already and so we're working with corporates 0:19:11.876 --> 0:19:14.436 to get their staff members to become volunteers. We have 0:19:14.556 --> 0:19:17.676 women calling us they want to become champions, so they 0:19:17.716 --> 0:19:21.196 want to use their network to help spread the world. 0:19:21.236 --> 0:19:23.236 Like you know, your program is definitely going to help 0:19:23.356 --> 0:19:26.556 us get more visibility out there. And we also have 0:19:26.636 --> 0:19:29.396 digital clubs, we have hackathons, we have you know, so 0:19:29.476 --> 0:19:32.036 many boot camps. People are just joining because they can 0:19:32.076 --> 0:19:34.916 see that it makes sense. So yeah, we have ambitions 0:19:34.916 --> 0:19:37.676 plans this year at the United Nations, but also next year. 0:19:37.756 --> 0:19:40.756 Twenty twenty is a big It's a big milestone for 0:19:40.836 --> 0:19:43.316 us because some of the girls are getting scholarships. Now 0:19:43.316 --> 0:19:45.636 we have young girls actually coming to work for I 0:19:45.676 --> 0:19:48.356 AM the Code where am I No. Listeners are hearing 0:19:48.356 --> 0:19:52.396 you talk and asking what they can do to help 0:19:52.436 --> 0:19:56.276 support your efforts and the goal. Generally, what are some 0:19:56.356 --> 0:19:59.156 of the things that people listening might be able to 0:19:59.196 --> 0:20:03.196 do to advance the goal. They can definitely become mentors 0:20:03.236 --> 0:20:05.756 to the girls, They can become ambassadors of I AM 0:20:05.796 --> 0:20:08.716 the Code, they can run their own hackatons, they can 0:20:08.716 --> 0:20:11.636 provide space for us, they can be part of the 0:20:11.916 --> 0:20:14.196 you know, the movement to get young some of the 0:20:14.316 --> 0:20:17.756 young girls coding. We have many corporate organizations, for example, 0:20:17.756 --> 0:20:20.956 who are giving us space. They're giving us some hours 0:20:20.996 --> 0:20:23.916 to volunteer for I Am the Code, and they're opening 0:20:23.956 --> 0:20:26.876 their offices to have digital club. And they're also traveling 0:20:26.876 --> 0:20:28.916 with us to meet the girls in a most difficult 0:20:28.916 --> 0:20:31.996 places around the world. We are the first organization to 0:20:32.116 --> 0:20:35.836 go into refugee camp in Kenya where the two hundred 0:20:35.836 --> 0:20:38.196 thousand people live in the refugee camp, eighteen thousand of 0:20:38.236 --> 0:20:40.076 them are women and girls, and they are the first 0:20:40.756 --> 0:20:42.836 young women and girls in a refugi camp to learn 0:20:42.916 --> 0:20:46.396 how to code. And we in slams when five us 0:20:46.436 --> 0:20:49.756 in Brazil. We are in places where I grow up 0:20:49.796 --> 0:20:52.396 as a young girl. And the reason why I'm going 0:20:52.556 --> 0:20:56.156 back there is to tell the world that those people 0:20:56.476 --> 0:20:59.996 they matter. By going back and giving holding those young 0:21:00.036 --> 0:21:03.756 girls and helping them to be confident and to also 0:21:03.876 --> 0:21:06.956 gain a skill, I believe that coding is the future. 0:21:07.076 --> 0:21:10.196 If they can decode information and build a website or 0:21:10.276 --> 0:21:13.756 build an app and get some skills to help them 0:21:13.876 --> 0:21:18.196 get money. They wouldn't be trafficked, they wouldn't be young prostitutes, 0:21:18.276 --> 0:21:20.636 they wouldn't be abused because they have to depend on 0:21:20.636 --> 0:21:24.196 someone else. So I'm trying to change society problems at 0:21:24.196 --> 0:21:26.916 the same time giving young women skills so they don't 0:21:26.956 --> 0:21:29.876 end up like myself. And how about here in the 0:21:29.956 --> 0:21:32.676 United States, Mariam, is there a role for your organization 0:21:32.716 --> 0:21:35.116 to play here? Are you active here? We have some 0:21:35.556 --> 0:21:37.596 major banks who won't support I am the Code and 0:21:37.636 --> 0:21:39.916 hopefully we're going to go to deprived communities. Because our 0:21:39.956 --> 0:21:43.076 content is free. People can use them in prisons, they 0:21:43.076 --> 0:21:44.876 can use them in places. In the UK, we go 0:21:44.956 --> 0:21:48.596 to prisons and places where we can rehabilitate people. So 0:21:48.636 --> 0:21:51.796 we're hoping that by the beginning of twenty twenty. I 0:21:51.836 --> 0:21:55.636 am in the United States. Um, it's such an audacious 0:21:55.676 --> 0:21:59.676 idea to say someone who's been a victim of trafficking 0:22:00.196 --> 0:22:04.196 should be writing software. Have you seen other women who 0:22:04.316 --> 0:22:06.716 followed the kind of path that you did and had 0:22:06.756 --> 0:22:11.036 that extraordinary transformation? Yeah, I haven't seen it yet. I've 0:22:11.036 --> 0:22:13.756 seen many women who some women who've been trafficked and 0:22:13.796 --> 0:22:15.916 have difficulty in their life, but mainly they go into 0:22:15.956 --> 0:22:18.356 the activism the world and share their stories with other 0:22:18.356 --> 0:22:20.236 people around the world. But for me, that's not enough, 0:22:20.276 --> 0:22:22.716 and my pioneering system change. That's what I do. I 0:22:22.876 --> 0:22:26.156