It is with a heavy heart that I write this blog post. I’m leaving Makers Academy after spending 2 years and 9 months here, which, for this millennial, is a very long time!
I joined Makers Academy in September 2014 after hiring a graduate from Makers Academy for my startup. When I left that company, I approached Makers Academy as it aligned with my passion of wanting to help change people’s lives. If we don’t count the startup and other random jobs, Makers Academy was my first proper ‘career” job after university and what a journey it has been.
I joined as employee #13 and now we are on employee #25 and will be hiring many more people this year. It truly is an exciting time for Makers Academy — so why am I moving on? Well, I’ve been given a fellowship by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust to research muslim women in technology in America, Pakistan and Dubai and expand on a life-long passion for diversity, which started at Makers Academy.
I’ve decided that rather than doing my fellowship on top of my day job, I’ve decided to take the leap and focus on it full-time for a few months and then figure out my next steps.
This blog post is an emotional goodbye, a look back at some of the highlights I’ve had at Makers Academy and the fun I’ve had along the way.
When I first joined Makers Academy, we were in the old offices at Epworth House and then moved to our current place. I remember when we first moved in. It seemed huge and there was no way we were going to fill it — 2 years on we’ve had to get another floor as we’re running out of space!
In one of the first cohorts I met Ruth, a full-time mum who took out the PCDL loan to do the course and is now thriving in her career as a developer but not just that, she’s also a massive role model inspiring other people. Little did I know I was going to meet many more inspiring people, like Ruth, who were trusting us with their money and time to help them kickstart their careers as junior developers, as well as the friends I’d make along the way.
Below are some of my favourite highlights and achievement at Makers are
- 21 Onsite Graduations and 7 Remote Graduations. The bar has always got higher at every graduation and it’s been great fun to live-tweet them.
- I’ve captured 199 graduates stories and each story has inspired me so much.
- Helped to re-launch our website from this to this.
- Helped to launch the Remote Makers Academy course.
- Helped us achieve a 51% female cohort which is so much more higher than the industry average of 13%.
- Helped to deliver the ThoughtWorks scholarship and help women from extremely difficult backgrounds. It makes me so excited when I see these women doing so well in their jobs at ThoughtWorks.
- Enjoyed many Nerf wars!
- Enjoyed our team retreat in Cornwall and kayaking which led to the “sunfish” story. #ifyouknowyouknow.
- Partnerships with the likes of DigitalGurus, FridgeRaiders and Amazon
- Launched the QardHasan Fellowship to to deliver interest-free loans as well as another exciting partnership which is yet to be launched.
- Putting a refugee through the remote course.
- Spearheaded diversity efforts within Makers
I’m truly honoured to have spent so long helping to change people’s lives, and for that I’m eternally grateful, but it’s time to move on and carry on changing lives and inspiring people with my fellowship.
I’d like to thank my colleagues and all the amazing students for all the support and love that has made the last 2 ½ years really special.
If you’d like to stay in touch and follow my journey beyond Makers. Feel free to follow me on Twitter or add me on LinkedIn!
