Seattle, WA and Silicon Valley, CA (PRWEB) October 08, 2014
Today, 29 prominent CEOs of leading global companies, from tech to retail to financial services, join forces for the first time to help introduce 100 million students worldwide to basic computer science concepts by asking their employees to support the international Hour of Code campaign. Taking place during Computer Science Education Week, December 8-14, Hour of Code is a campaign organized by Code.org to demystify coding by teaching students of all ages that anyone can learn the basics of computer science.
To galvanize support of Hour of Code beyond industry partners and to further its mission to provide every student access to computer science education, Code.org today launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo with a goal to raise $5M to support this effort, the largest nonprofit fundraising campaign in the site’s history. Every donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a collective of Code.org donors, including Microsoft, Google, Salesforce.com Foundation, Omidyar Network, Bill Gates, and Reid Hoffman.
“Ninety percent of kids don’t have the opportunity to participate in a world led by technology because their schools don’t teach computer science,” said Hadi Partovi, founder and CEO of Code.org. “A sea change in education takes critical mass. I’m humbled by the generous support of donors and partners and know we’re on our way to giving every student access to this foundational field through Hour of Code.”
“The Hour of Code helps students discover the fun of coding and more importantly, how it can be a catalyst to create and achieve great things,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. “Together, we can foster a vibrant pool of technically talented young people who are passionate and empowered to change the world.”
"Nothing is more important than the education of our children," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. "I encourage everyone to participate in the Hour of Code, so that we can give every child the skills needed to be successful in the 21st Century."
Participating companies include: Atlassian, Chegg, Dice.com, Disney Interactive, Dropbox, Eventbrite, Facebook, GoDaddy, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Juniper Networks, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Optimizely, Pearson, Pluralsight, Redfin, salesforce.com, Target, TASER, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), viagogo, Whitepages, Workday, Yelp, Zappos, Zillow, zulily, and Y Combinator. Each company will ask employees to support the Hour of Code in a variety of ways, including trying the Hour of Code themselves, spreading the word to local schools, hosting Hour of Code events at company offices, and donating to the crowdfunding campaign to enable millions of students globally to participate in the Hour of Code.
Hour of Code was introduced in 2013 to remove the veil of mystery that surrounds computer science and to break stereotypes that steer girls away from the field. The collective effort, supported by educators and industry partners, recruited 44 million students worldwide to spend one hour at their computers coding, and it exposed more girls in the United States to computer science in one week than in the entire history of the field.
To support the Hour of Code and the crowdfunding campaign, visit http://hourofcode.com.
About Code.org
Code.org® is a 501c3 public non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. Its vision is that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer programming. After launching in 2013, Code.org organized the international Hour of Code campaign — which has introduced 41 million students to computer science — partnered with more than 30 public school districts nationwide, and recently launched Code Studio, an open-source, online learning platform for all ages. Code.org is supported by philanthropic donations from corporations, foundations, and generous individuals, including Microsoft, Omidyar Network and others. Learn more at http://code.org.
About the Hour of Code
The Hour of Code is a grassroots campaign that aims to demystify computer science and encourage students to try just one hour of code during Computer Science Education Week (December 8-14). Supported by over 100 partners and organized by Code.org, the movement reached 20 million students in December 2013 alone. Half of all participants were girls. By the end of 2014, organizers aim to reach a cumulative 100 million students worldwide, in over 30 languages. Learn more at http://hourofcode.com.