How This Business Grad Became A Tech Non-Profit Founder

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- CHELSIA TAN

WHO: Nurul Jihadah Hussain

HIGHEST EDUCATION: Masters in Business Administration; Master of Arts, Arabic and Politics

JOB TITLE & INDUSTRY: Founder of The Codette Project, Tech/Social Impact, and Programme Manager, Accelerating Asia

WORK EXPERIENCE: 12 years

Nurul Jihadah Hussain’s decision to convert her education scholarship into funding for The Codette Project kick-started the nonprofit organisation, which aims to better career opportunities in tech for minority and Muslim women.

The 36-year-old was inspired by the work of Black Girls Code (a US non-profit that provides STEM education for African American girls) and – despite not having a tech background – had wanted to establish a similar platform in Singapore.

Nurul shares that because she was already finishing her Masters in Business Administration (MBA), she put in a request for funding The Codette Project instead, if her social impact pitch for Yayasan Mendaki’s 2015 Ridzwan Dzafir Community Awards was successful.

Since then, The Codette Project has clocked some notable milestones, including being part of Meta’s inaugural Facebook Community Leadership Programme in 2018, an international initiative that supports the social impact efforts of 115 community leaders with over US$10 million ($13.3 million) in funding, as well as launching the very first women-only hackathon in Singapore the same year, an event that saw 50 participants.