About Us
DirectEd Development Foundation (DirectEd) is a not-for-profit organisation delivering
evidence-based, highly scalable and cost-effective training in coding and entrepreneurship to high-potential students right after secondary school around the world, starting in Kenya and Ethiopia.We give students all the soft -and hard skills they need to succeed as remote software engineers through our 3-part programme that ends with a paid internship with a Western tech startup.
Our programme
We are creating a impact pipeline with three steps.
Intro Course: an accessible 1-week-long remote course in Python, requiring only a mobile phone.
Bootcamp: an intensive 12-week full-stack coding using te JavaScript MERN framework.
Internship: during this 6-month-long segment, students build products for a tech company, specialise and receive entrepreneurship training.
Step-By-Step Process
1. Intro Coding Course and Onboarding
We select partner high schools in Kenya and Ethiopia that have many high-potential under-resourced students. We then provide a free 1-week mobile phone-based remote coding course for all students to take part in. We also help students and schools set up the necessary infrastructure for the stipend disbursement.
2. Scholarship pools
We set up a smart contract scholarship pools. Each school has their own funding pool. This pays for both costs of running the coding courses for free and to enable students from needy backgrounds to receive Access Scholarships covering tutoring expenses, laptop lending and more. We clearly define the milestones needed for each payout from the smart contract.
3. Bootcamp
After a merit-based selection process students enrol in a 12-week bootcamp. The bootcamp is free of charge and covers the most sought-after skills as identified by our employer surveys. Needy students receive milestones-based stipends with funds from the scholarship pool.
4. Internship
Upon successfully completing our rigorous coding bootcamp, graduates will get opportunities to interview for internships with our tech internship partners.
Needy students continue to receive stipends
Specialization and advanced training
Tech entrepreneurship training
5. Employment
Once our students find employment as remote software engineers, we ask students to contribute part of their salary back to the same pool that financed their training, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of funding for future scholars.
DirectEd Lions Fundraiser
A Meaningful Donor Experience
The Lion symbolises stength, valour and leadership. Our supporters exhibit these characteristics, but so too do our students.The Lions Collection is our way of giving donors a small token of appreciation for their support.
A Phemelo Warrior
Sahara Mathil
Queen Dalia Teluji
Our Team
Learn more about our team & advisors
Follow our work
Find out more about our organisation, our team, what we do and read monthly project updates on our Notion page.
Contact
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