Code.org celebrates 10 years of impact at anniversary event
Bill Gates, Mira Murati, Aloe Blacc, and more were in attendance at the inspirational event.
It’s hard to believe that Code.org is ten years old! In our first decade, Code.org created a global movement to teach and learn computer science, leading to almost 100 million students enrolled on our platform and policies changed in 50 U.S. states and 70 countries.
To honor our supporters and celebrate a decade of advancing computer science education, Code.org hosted a 10th Anniversary Gala on Wednesday, October 18, at The Masonic in San Francisco:
Tech icons like Bill Gates, OpenAI’s Mira Murati, Jeff Wilke, Code.org’s co-founders Ali and Hadi Partovi, and more took the stage to look back on the organization’s impact, as well as look ahead to the challenges and opportunities of the future.
Moderated by Chiefs for Change CEO Bob Runcie, Gates and Murati had a fireside chat focused on artificial intelligence in education. Over the next ten years, Code.org plans to focus on AI integration, so hearing from these luminaries was enlightening — especially for the many Code.org staff, teachers, students, and partners in attendance!
During a truly inspiring panel of female CS students and professionals, Code.org launched a new initiative, Young Women in CS, to focus on closing the gender gap in computer science education, starting with female enrollment in high school computer science courses.
The panel, which featured a high school student, college student, and professional — all passionate about computer science — fully engaged the audience with their candid experiences and straight talk on how to motivate more women to try CS. In the coming years, Code.org hopes to make CS a requirement for every student on the way to reaching a billion students worldwide — with an emphasized focus on closing the gender gap.
Guests were also treated to a very special performance by longtime Code.org supporter and multi-platinum singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc, who has appeared in several of our educational videos explaining the link between creativity and coding. Blacc performed his hits, “I Need a Dollar,” “The Man,” and “Wake Me Up” — the last of which Aloe Blacc has continued to generously license to Code.org for our popular Dance Party activity for the annual Hour of Code.
Towards the end of the evening, Code.org President Cameron Wilson and The Innovation Project CEO Dr. Sharon Contreras recognized everyone who has supported us and worked alongside us to promote computer science education for every student: teachers, administrators, facilitators, partners, policymakers, and donors. We specifically highlighted the support of Amazon, Google, Infosys, Microsoft, and Vista Equity Partners for their lifetime of significant commitments to Code.org and the CS movement. We also recognized organizations and individuals who have supported our work with innovative philanthropic approaches, such as Accenture, Atlassian, The Ballmer Group, Cisco Foundation, Humanitix, Ken Griffin, and Tesla.
At the conclusion of the event, we announced that from now until December 10, every dollar donated will be matched by generous supporter and board member Alfred Lin of Sequoia Capital, doubling the impact of your donation! Make a gift today through our donate page.
It was an incredible night, representative of an equally incredible decade in computer science education. Code.org is honored to continue our work with the vision of ensuring every student in every classroom has the opportunity to learn computer science.
— Leonardo Ortiz Villacorta, Code.org Vice President of Development
Code.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to every student having the opportunity to learn computer science as part of their core K-12 education. We are publicly funded by people like you. If you would like to join our commitment to computer science education by making a donation today, please click here. For questions, please contact Development at giving@code.org or (206) 593–5521. Thank you.
