I am delighted to have announced our new partnership with Code First Girls, a non-profit organisation that teaches women to code for free, and helps increase the number of women – an under-represented group – working in tech.
As a South African woman of Indian heritage, a single parent of two bi-racial girls aged 18 and 22, and a human resources executive with a passion for talent, leadership, and development, I work daily with my team to support Experian deliver on its brand promise of powering opportunities to create a better tomorrow for our people, consumers and businesses globally. So I am personally and professionally very proud of this development.
Our partnership means four young women can study for a Code First Girls‘ Nanodegree, while working as paid interns in EMEA for the next nine months.
These young talents come from diverse backgrounds, helping us diversify our workforce and bringing fresh thinking and new perspectives. They’ll benefit from our flexible ways of working, being based primarily from home. They’ll gain international experience as they are joining our Data Science and Innovation teams in South Africa and Italy.
Moreover, they will help us drive our financial inclusion agenda by working on our United for Financial Health programme. This means we will have four young women working on financial inclusion solutions for women and four 18 to 25-year-olds working on financial inclusion solutions for the same demographic.
This is a people-led innovation that contributes to the circular economy and adds purpose to our Company’s commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in its fullest sense, supporting our sustainable business goals.
This isn’t philanthropy or theory. This partnership means our interns will work hard, learn and develop themselves as they prepare for a career in data and tech. It means we will also learn and evolve through this initiative.
I’m curious: how do young, fresh talented people experience us? Will this partnership really enable four young women to start sustainable, fulfilling careers in tech, data, artificial intelligence, or software development? Will it help Experian attract and retain the best early tech talent in future?
As with every innovative step we take, we’re unsure of the outcome, and that’s OK, as well as exciting. What is important is that we’ve started a new journey together, and I’m excited to see where it takes us.
If you’d like to meet our EMEA interns and track their journey, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.