Next up in our Resident Profile series is CoderDojo. Founded in 2011 by James Whelton, a young Cork-born entrepreneur, and with the help of Australian philanthropist Bill Liao, CoderDojo has grown to become a global movement of free, volunteer-led, community based programming clubs for young people. This movement is supported by the non-profit charity known as the ‘CoderDojo Foundation’ which was founded in 2013.

At a Dojo, young people, between 7 and 17, learn how to code, develop websites, apps, programs, games and explore technology in an informal and creative environment. In addition to learning to code attendees meet like minded people and are exposed to the possibilities of technology. Within the CoderDojo Movement there is a focus on community, peer learning, youth mentoring and self led learning, with an emphasis on showing how coding is a force for change in the world.

CoderDojo has been with Dogpatch Labs for almost 5 years and were previously based in the Barrow Street office when Dogpatch was managed by Polaris Ventures. Guistina Mizzoni, now Head of Development with the CoderDojo Foundation, was the former Office Manager in Barrow Street and remains the longest standing member of the Dogpatch community.

The CoderDojo Foundation are a special part of the social fabric at Dogpatch and we are glad to support their activities which are helping to train and educate the world’s future generations in the increasingly important skills of computer programming.