Coded by Kids drops ‘kids’ but keeps the focus on young people

Tears, heartfelt speeches and hugs filled the room on Thursday night at the Coded by Kids 10 year celebration.

Coded by Kids founder Sylvester Mobley and current CEO Danae Mobley shared an emotional moment as they reflected on how far the org has come. The tech education nonprofit also announced a rebrand as it enters its second decade, now going as Coded by. This new era will continue to offer classroom education, but will also lean more into helping youth succeed long term.

“Getting people to believe that the young people we work with are capable of more than just getting a job,” Sylvester said. “It plays out into what people are willing to fund, what they’re willing to support and what they’re willing to back.”

Danae officially took over the reins from Sylvester as Coded by CEO in January. The anniversary celebration recognized how far Sylvester took the organization as the founder and what the org is looking for in the next 10 years under Danae’s leadership.

Aspects of the rebrand include Coded by Academy, which will train students to become tech professionals, Coded by Ventures will focus on entrepreneurship efforts and Coded by Labs will share the org’s education strategy with others.

“It’s about knowing that there are people of all ages that need to access opportunities,” Danae said. “We’re going to be the organization to help them to do so.”

From a handful of students to more than 2,000

Coded by started off “small and mighty” in 2014, according to Danae. Sylvester taught coding and computer literacy classes to a handful of students at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center in South Philly. They aimed to increase access to tech education and prepare kids for tech leadership roles.

Over the years, programming expanded to schools, community centers and eventually its own West Philly office. The organization has held programming at 30 locations across three states in the Philadelphia region and has worked with over 2,000 students.

Danae’s favorite moments over the last decade have been the ones where students are proud to showcase their work, she said. For example, at the org’s first coding competition, Ctrl+Shift, in 2018.

Enough time has passed now that Danae and Sylvester can see the long term impact on students, Danae said. Some Coded by alumni have gone on to earn computer science degrees, some started their own companies and a few came back to work for the organization.

“They are truly doing what we set out for them to do,” Danae told Technical.ly.

Coded by recognizes its work with other community groups

An award ceremony during the event recognized members of the Philly tech community who have supported Coded by’s growth over the years. These are local tech leaders, companies and big corporations that have helped the org spread its programming.

“[It’s] our way of saying we care about this community,” Danae said. “We’re rooted in it. We want to make sure that Philadelphia showcases the talent and the potential that’s here.”

Now, after years of building relationships with other stakeholders, Coded by is stepping into the role of convenor through its initiative 1Philadelphia. Launched in 2020, 1Philadelphia works toward equity and inclusion in the tech space.

In 10 more years, Danae predicts the mission will stay the same

Providing tech education takes long term consistency and students need to see how they can apply what they learn in the classroom, Danae said.

Coded by wants to provide “wraparound” support for students to help them feel comfortable and confident. That means providing mentorship, space to fail and try again and the chance to be creative.

In the next 10 years, Danae hopes to see Coded by expand regionally or nationally, but the org’s core mission won’t change.

“We now see a pathway for students to not only just enter the tech field, but to really build their own companies,” Danae said. “Then, reinvest that wealth back into building the communities that we all deserve.”

Updated on June 11 at 5:30 p.m.

Sarah Huffman is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.