Limited digital skills are a huge barrier to employment for refugees and other disadvantaged groups. Madiha Khan, who came to the UK from Pakistan in 2006 knows that only too well.

And yet for Madiha the past six years have been a whirlwind. In 2020, she joined Capgemini after completing a technical skills training program, CodeYourFuture, aimed at helping people from disadvantaged backgrounds start careers  in software engineering.

Madiha is now thriving as a senior software engineer, based in London, and was a finalist in the Women in Tech Excellence Awards. Her journey truly reflects the life-changing possibilities that Capgemini’s work with CodeYourFuture offers.

The background

Capgemini has partnered with CodeYourFuture since 2019, with colleagues providing training and mentoring, as well as co-creating and developing the programs. Each year, Capgemini supports CodeYourFuture in delivering those, which range from introductory courses to advanced coding. Graduate learners of the most advanced courses are also supported with employability skills, helping them to gain skilled roles in the tech sector. Now Capgemini has reached a milestone, with more than 100 graduate learners hired from the programs.

Madiha was in the very first cohort of students. In some ways she has come full circle, as she now manages an internal CodeYourFuture community channel allowing its members  to share knowledge and support each other.

“Working here has changed me as a person,” she says. “I’d had a long career break to look after my children and wasn’t confident in my abilities, but Capgemini helps you develop your skills and find that support when you need it. That has played a huge part in getting where I am today.”

Madiha’s talents were recognized early when she was challenged to run a project that was only intended to last two months. Its success under her leadership, however, saw the project continue for three years. She has worked across schemes in the private and public sectors, and mastered platform engineering, architecture and DevOps [development and IT operations] engineering. As a result of her proactive approach to learning and her ability to deliver high-impact results for clients, Madiha was placed on an accelerated program, promoted (twice in one year alone) and now works in a leadership role.

“I still turn my hand to coding,” she says, “but now I work in DevOps and am learning about how we can integrate AI into our engineering workflows to speed up our delivery. I think it would be boring if I didn’t still write some code, but my passion is working with the junior talent, helping people shape their careers and goals. Sometimes apprentices don’t know where they want to go, and it’s good to help them understand what’s possible and how they can grab it, like others did for me.”

Evolution of the partnership

Also, part of the colleague support team helping to create these life-changing opportunities is Anahita Mahmoudi, a leader in business analysis within Capgemini UK’s digital customer experience team.

She is a passionate, long-time volunteer and mentor for CodeYourFuture. “I started working at Capgemini in 2012 and have been involved with humanitarian and social-change initiatives for the past decade,” Anahita says. “I’ve worked with CodeYourFuture since the start in 2018.”

More than providing training, Capgemini’s involvement also secures routes into tech careers for people who may otherwise never have had the opportunity. Students benefit from free childcare and course materials to help them attend and complete the course. The course content has evolved so that it stays current and applicable to the needs of employers as well as the students. It also helps them on their way by providing experience of work environments, and by building portfolios in readiness for job applications.

Recognition has followed, too, with the partnership winning awards in the tech sector and for its contribution to society and sustainability.

A further recent development has been the introduction of a dedicated business analyst training route, with Anahita leading on its co-design.

“I’d seen how the program changes lives for people who want to become software engineers,” she explains. “And I wanted even more people to have those experiences. I was the capability lead for business analysts – a consultancy role. Why couldn’t we also train future business analysts? We’ve already had our first cohort of business analysts graduate and join Capgemini after participating in the program. It’s another milestone.”

At a time when fewer software engineers are being hired across the UK, multitrack pathways such as this can ensure the program remains aligned with real business needs.

Continuing the good work

Anahita’s experience has deepened her belief that businesses and individuals have a responsibility to give back to their communities – and will be rewarded for it.

“I’ve supported CodeYourFuture in a hands-on way, with one-to-one mentoring, running some of its ‘soft skills’ sessions and supporting with student interviews, and it has given me some truly fulfilling moments,” she says.

Anahita would like to see the program expand internationally, reaching regions where accessing education is a struggle for young people. It’s about creating real humanitarian change through “our power for impact”.

For Madiha, that impact is clear.

“In a simple way, it’s about removing barriers,” she says. “The course is funded. Childcare is covered. They give you a laptop. It means there’s nothing to worry about, and you can sit down, focus and start to achieve. That’s the beauty of it. And, of course, it’s also about ensuring that the future cohorts of CodeYourFuture graduates are empowered by technology.”

For both, it’s a vision for the future that is more than a virtuous gesture – it’s a sustainable route forward that delivers real and positive change. As Madiha puts it: “It’s a win-win for everyone involved.”