TwitterFacebookRSS Feed
#GeeksConnect: Arlene Mulder on Building We Think Code

#GeeksConnect: Arlene Mulder on Building We Think Code

Born in Pretoria, Arlene Mulder always loved doing things that many people says they can't be done. She has a coding background having learned pascal back in the day and had also acquired experience in the banking sector. Arlene joined us LIVE on the #GeeksConnect show on BrandLive.co.za for an interview on Digital Education and We Think Code.

  • Date: 11 January 2018
  • Time: 10:34 - 10:52

About We Think Code...

Johannesburg based tech institution. A Peer-to-peer learning environment with no teachers and no tuition. They source and develop Africa's top Software Engineers.

"We are all about finding top talent, no matter where you are from or what you have done before. Study completely for free, no prior coding experience required and Matric is optional."

So far, We Think Code has received over 95 000 applications of young talent seeking placement at the academy. Certainly, this shows that there is so much hunger to learn in South Africa and We Think Code has been playing part in grooming young talent for the market. Here are the numbers since 2016:

In Johannesburg

  • 2016: 120 students
  • 2017: 200 students
  • 2018: 200 students

In Cape Town
2018: 120 students to be taken in.

Arlene co-founded We Think Code together with Camille Agon who is passionate about education and unlocking potential. "If I had superpowers, it would be to code", Arlene said.

When asked about her 3 favorite apps, she opted to these 3 local apps

  1. SnapScan - she described it as a world class technology, bringing convience and ease in payment and helps her while in Cape Town.

  2. My SOS - A "one-stop-shop" for access to the closest and most appropriate emergency services in South Africa

  3. Pick n Pay Super Animals app - Keep track of your South African Super Animals cards, unlock new badges and earn new rewards as your collection grows.

Arlene believes that We Think Code is democratizing the South African education system and opening up for talent to learn how to learn. While she notes that young developers are scared of competitiveness of We Think Code students at Hackathons, she says this was not the goal. Also echoed that they look forward to collaborating with Geekulcha in 2017.

Her message to the young Geeks coders was "If you love to solve problems and design the world, you can do anything with code and We Think Code is a place for you". We thank her for being on the show and was a first guest of 2018.