Hi! My name is Avye Couloute and I am a Year 11 student. I am a 16-year-old multi-award-winning tech maker, social entrepreneur, female tech advocate, workshop leader, and the founder of Girls Into Coding.
I started coding & attending physical computing workshops at 7. These workshops introduced me to Scratch (a block-based visual programming language), the Microbit (a pocket-sized microcontroller), and the Raspberry Pi computer. I loved how I could use code to move things on the screen or to control electronic components.
The workshops were fun, so I began going to lots of similar events and continued to explore what I was learning at home. To share my skills, I started co-running coding workshops alongside two adult mentors & soon took on the responsibility for preparing & leading my own for CoderDojo at Kingston University and other community events.
I am very active in the tech & maker community, dedicating a lot of my spare time to exploring & learning about coding & technology. I lead regular coding & robotics workshops, both in-person and virtually. I have won competitions with the robots which I design and make. Nonetheless, I still find time to enjoy spending time with my friends.
Three years ago, after repeatedly observing that most attendees at my workshops were boys, I founded ‘Girls Into Coding’ to get more girls into tech. Girls Into Coding offers girls aged 10-14 an opportunity to explore Coding, physical computing, robotics & 3D printing. The events are free to attend and with the help of my mum, I also reach out to women & girls doing cool things in the world of STEM, inviting them to give lightning talks.
I am enthusiastic about sharing my skills & experiences with others. From 2019 to 2021, I was an Arm ambassador, part of the GenArm2Z program which enables young people to talk to tech leaders about how technology is being used & shaped for the future. In 2022, I joined the DesignSpark-RS team as a project influencer, further expanding my reach and influence in the tech community.
As well as being keen to share opportunities, I have also successfully fundraised to provide books, physical computing kits, and microcontrollers to girls so they can continue their tech journeys at home and beyond.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, I launched a virtual version of Girls Into Coding and successfully delived robotics workshops online to girls, using kits that I designed & manufactured. The kits along with other hardware were posted out to the girls, ensuring that they had everything they needed at home to participate in the online events. Girls throughout the UK and from around the world, including the USA, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, France, India, Poland, Nigeria, Singapore, Belgium, Spain, Denmark, Suriname & South Africa were able to join the online events.
We are now delivering our Girls Into Coding Programme both in-person and virtually.
In addition to my dedication to the Girls Into coding mission, I have also delivered workshops, demonstrated my projects, and engaged with the public at the following tech events:
● Stemettes Future Summit July 2019
● Bett Show January 2019
● Red Hat CO.LAB January 2019
● Mozilla Festival 2019
● Maker Faire Rome 3-Day Event Oct 2018
● World Summit AI – Day of the Girl Future Leaders presented at the Amsterdam AI Summit on Oct 11th, 2018
● Young Coders Conference 2018
These endeavors have helped me to inspire more girls to give these types of activities a go. Through Girls Into Coding, I now aim to engage at least 1000 girls each year with opportunities to explore coding, robotics, physical computing & 3D design & printing. In the future, I want to see girls and women engaged in STEM activities, education & careers – equally comfortable, with an equal sense of belonging, and in equal numbers.
I have received several awards including The Royal Academy of Engineering Excellence Award for Outstanding pupil, the UK Young Engineer of the Year. These achievements & recognition further fuelled my passion for Technology & Engineering – my past and current work/contributions have also been recognised through the following awards:
● The National Lottery Young Hero Awards Winner 2022
● 2022 Winner of the Amazing Maker Awards – Science Category
● UK Young Engineer of the Year 2022
● WeAreTheCity Rising Star Award – Technology
● Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2022 – Social Impact
● Rotary Young Citizen Award 2022
● Natwest 2022 Wise100 – UK’s Top 100 women in social enterprise, impact investment, and mission-driven business
● Women In Tech Aspiring Teen Award
● FDM EveryWoman in Technology Awards – The One to Watch
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Having a passion for making & exploring technology has enabled me to enter and win competitions with some of her ideas, projects, and creations. In 2018 I won 1st place in the best working device category of the Microbit 1st Birthday Challenge with my balloon waving robot. This early achievement gave me the confidence to enter and win the Coolest Project UK in 2019 with my voice command robot.
I was invited as part of a panel of young ambassadors, to join the CEO of ARM on stage to participate in a keynote panel, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. On top of this I have also advocated for gender parity in tech through my participation in a range of other panel/keynote sessions, TV interviews as shown below:
● ITV Good Morning Britain -2022
● BBC London News -2022
● GB News Live -2022
● WeAreTechWomen – One Tech World Conference 2022
● Collision Tech Conference April 2021 – Along with my fellow GenArm2Z ambassadors I was invited to speak at the Collision Tech Conference in April 2021 to talk about the future of AI with Arm CEO Simon Segars.
● WeAreTechWomen – One Tech World Conference 2021
● STEAM Youth & Community Conference 2021 – San Diego University, USA
● Microsoft International Digi Girlz UNESCO 2021– keynote focusing on inspiring and motivating female students. This was part of a virtual event, allowing girls from Kenya, Rwanda, Canada, and the US to engage in the first International Virtual Microsoft DigiGirlz Panel and Bootcamp.
● Microbit Live 2020: Dec 2020 – I delivered a keynote at the Microbit Live event where I talked about the Microbit and her Tech journey.
● Arm Dev Summit – October 2020
I was invited to the Arm Dev Summit to discuss, “Designing an Ethical Future for the Next Generation” and how technology can help build a more equitable future.
● CMC Changemakers video – July 2020 – I was invited to feature on the Children Media Conference (CMC) Webinar about role models and the future of science and technology.
● Mobile World Congress Barcelona – February 2019 // https://www.mobileworldlive.com/latest-stories/interview-arm-gen2z/
I partnered with Arm to serve as a young ambassador and drive the youth conversation around the use and future of technology, and my mission to empower young people to play an active role in the world’s digital transformation.
● Microbit Live 2019 Conference BBC MediaCityUK, Manchester – Nov 2019: I was invited along with 3 other young tech trailblazers to talk about the Microbit and our experiences with it.
Aware of the impact that early involvement in tech activities can have on young people, I am driven to share my experiences and skills, often leading sessions for various outreach initiatives including the Digi Girlz UNESCO programme and the Royal Institution Computer Master Class Series June 2019.
I advocate for diversity in the tech sector and believe you are never too young for your ideas to have value. I want all girls to feel empowered to access opportunities to learn how to code, develop their making and digital skills regardless of where they come from.
I continue to champion young people & women in tech through the different media productions that I have worked on. These commissions include:
● The National Young Hero Awards – Avye’s Tech Journey
● Meet 13 Year Old Coder, Avye! | Extraordinary Me | Nickelodeon UK
● Raspberry Pi – My Coding Story
● BBC Sounds – We Can Change The World series
● Microsoft Video Industry Production – Meet Avye
● World Summit AI – Day of the Girl Future Leaders // https://youtu.be/DfRFZbuUBLI
Being able to adapt to several different interview situations, both online and face to face, has allowed me to raise awareness of the Girls Into Coding mission and help to inspire girls in and across communities. The list below details a selection of those interview opportunities:-
● We Are Tech Women: Inspirational Girls in Tech
● Cajigo – Women Talk Tech series
● The Female Lead- September 2020
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● Interview with Microsoft CloudSkills Show: Dec 2020
● Women in Tech Week: In July 2020, a session with the team at the Third Republic as part of their Women in Tech Q&A series.
● BAFTA Young presenters – October 2020
● Interview with GLAM (Girls Leadership Academy Meetup) // https://youtu.be/SpUOSzQeWPA
My work to encourage more girls into STEM has amassed extensive coverage in a wide pool of printed publications from around the UK, Europe, and the Americas, including:
Reinvented magazine, The Female Lead, The MagPi, Micro Mag, The Week Junior, Smore Magazine, Hello World Magazine, The Evening Standard, The Daily Express, The Stylist, Linux mag, Etre Mag, OXO magazine, Microsoft Industry Blog, Arm Print Blogs, Pi-Top Mag, Kookie Magazine.
I work tirelessly in the tech & maker community, leaning in to help shape an environment for other girls & young women to flourish, and have collaborated on various projects including:-
● STEAM Campaign – Partnership with Bizzie Bodies – Sep-Oct 2020, a series of 5 videos that I produced & featured to help promote STEAM to the Youth!
● Visible in Tech campaign – Sep 2020 – In September 2020, I took part in the Visible In tech campaign organised by Coding Black Females
● 1MWS Campaign – Year 2020
I hope you will enjoy my blogs. I will share with you the pictures of the Tech events I go to so you have a feel of the moment.!
Avye
PS: All the content included on my website has been written by me. My mum and dad do some of the editing!
6 comments so far
Liz SmedleyPosted on8:36 pm - Jul 24, 2019
Very impressive, keep it up
AvyePosted on6:43 am - Nov 1, 2019
Thank you Liz!
motivation456Posted on1:48 am - Nov 1, 2019
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AvyePosted on9:11 am - Nov 1, 2019
Thank you!
motivation456Posted on2:05 am - Nov 4, 2019
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JanninePosted on8:56 am - Jan 17, 2022
You are an inspiration