Girls Into Coding
1995. Avye Couloute
Avye Couloute, aged 15, from London, is a young coder who created ‘Girls Into Coding’, running robotics and coding workshops for over 1,000 girls in the UK and internationally since 2018.
Avye first got into coding aged 7 and, though she found coding workshops were fun, she noticed that most of the other attendees were boys. She was inspired to share her skills to encourage more girls into coding and set up her own network with support from her mother. In 2018, she founded ‘Girls Into Coding’, offering girls aged 10-14 an opportunity to explore coding and adapted to delivering online workshops during the Covid-19 pandemic, using kits that Avye had designed and manufactured.
Avye has held hundreds of events, both in person and virtually with her custom workshops on coding, robotics, physical computing and 3D printing. Avye has also successfully fundraised to provide books, physical computing kits, and microcontrollers to girls so they can continue their tech journeys at home and beyond.
In a personal letter to Avye, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:
“I wanted to write personally to thank you for the amazing way you are inspiring hundreds of girls to get involved in coding and robotics.
“STEM skills are going to be vital for so many of the jobs of tomorrow and, as a father of two daughters, I am passionate about new ways of opening up coding to girls of all ages.
“So I was inspired to hear how you have created ‘Girls Into Coding’ – using robotics kits that you have designed and manufactured yourself to run workshops for girls across the country and beyond.”
Avye said:
“Really thrilled to receive the Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award and to be recognised for the work I do to empower more girls to explore hands-on tech opportunities through the Girls Into Coding program.”
See more about ‘Girls Into Coding’.
