Digital Careers Kickstarter

Why we built it

There's a wealth of talent in the Muslim community that the tech industry never taps. The Kickstarter connected those two worlds: it introduced Muslims to careers in tech while giving the industry access to a fresh pool of talent.

We took 38 people on a four-month journey designed to help them discover their digital interests, build experience and gain confidence. The programme included:

• 4-week work experience placements with companies including Muzmatch and Islamic Finance Guru
• Action learning sets
• Training with industry experts, 7 workshops covering user-centred design, user research, UX, product management and data science
• Personal coaching and mentoring, over 300 hours of it
• A welcome into our professional community and introductions to relevant people in our network

To measure impact we surveyed participants' skills and confidence at the start and end. Every single participant said they'd recommend the programme. Computer Weekly covered the launch.

Where participants ended up

"The Kickstarter programme had a huge impact on me and helped me change my career, from feeling frustrated in my previous roles to getting a job as a user researcher for the government. My digital coach was very generous in sharing her knowledge and instilling confidence in my abilities. Had it not been for this experience, I would not have applied, got to interview and secured the role." Sumaera Hasan · Kickstarter participant, now a government user researcher

"The programme has definitely helped me improve and broaden my career options. It prepared me for job applications that I previously wouldn't have had the confidence to go for. As a result, I secured a place on an analytics graduate programme." Eeman Shafat · Kickstarter participant

"I enjoy the fact that we're able to get an insight into so many different aspects of the tech industry. As someone who is more geared towards the technical side, I have enjoyed getting an experience of something different." Samatar Xasan · Kickstarter participant

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