Girls Who Code Breaks The Internet with New “Missing Code” Campaign, Highlighting Unseen Contributions of Women Coders

Leading Non-Profit Launches “Missing Code” Campaign for Computer Science Education Week, Supported by Lyda Hill Philanthropies’ IF/THEN® Initiative, Inspiring Girls to Code and Celebrating Women in Tech

Women-led team from Independent Agency Mojo Supermarket Partners with Girls Who Code on Creative Execution for One-Of-A-Kind Campaign

NEW YORK, NY, (December 7, 2020) – In a move designed to celebrate the unseen contributions of female coders, Girls Who Code is launching “Missing Code,” a digital campaign that illustrates how broken the internet would be if not for the work done by women. The campaign was made possible by the generous support of Lyda Hill Philanthropies’® IF/THEN® Initiative and created in partnership with a women-led team at independent agency Mojo Supermarket. “Missing Code“ kicks off on December 7th for Computer Science Education Week, and will run throughout the week on Girls Who Code social media channels and www.missing-code.com.

In 2020, women made up just 26 percent of computing jobs. The campaign highlights the contributions of women in tech and shifts perceptions of what a programmer looks like, while also drawing attention to the gender gap.

“There is still a perception out there that coding isn’t for girls, but that’s not true—we know that a huge part of the web was coded by women,” said Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code. “With this campaign, we’re hoping to inspire the next generation of women coders by showing them what the world would look like if they weren’t building it, designing it, coding it. Because without their contributions, the world as we know it, would fall apart.”

The campaign kicks off with a one-minute film, featuring a young woman navigating a broken, glitchy internet—realizing what the world would be like if girls didn’t code. The film includes a cameo by singer-songwriter-actor-gamer mxmtoon. To view the film, created by director Sonejuhi Sinha in collaboration with the filmmaking collective shy kids and produced by Division7, click here.

The “Missing Code” campaign features an interactive portal where visitors can surf an alternate, dystopian internet missing the code written by women. The portal features mocked up homepages of top platforms—including Teen Vogue, Sephora, and Adidas — reprogrammed to show just how crucial women are to the field.

“We are thrilled to support our partner Girls Who Code on the ‘Missing Code’ campaign which reinforces the important roles women have played in building the web,” said Nicole Small, CEO of Lyda Hill Philanthropies® and co-founder of the IF/THEN® Initiative. “We know that ‘IF she can see it, THEN she can be it’ and hope this campaign will inspire more girls to follow in the footsteps of the brilliant women who came before them.”

“We needed something that grabs attention and changes the way people see this industry,” explained Mo Said, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Mojo Supermarket. “Everyone thinks of coders as nerdy guys in loose fitting hoodies. We wanted to engage teens and actually change that perception. How do you show that the internet needs women coders? By showing just how much it would suck without them.”

To view the portal, visit www.missing-code.com. To follow updates about the campaign, follow Girls Who Code at @GirlsWhoCode on all social media.

About Girls Who Code

Girls Who Code is an international nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in technology, and leading the movement to inspire, educate and equip young women with the computing skills needed to pursue 21st century opportunities.

Since launching in 2012, Girls Who Code has reached 500 million people through its work and 300,000 girls through its in-person programming. College-aged alumni of Girls Who Code are declaring majors in computer science and related fields at 15 times the U.S. average. In 2019, the organization was named the #1 Most Innovative Non-Profit on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list. Follow the organization on social media @GirlsWhoCode.

About IF/THEN

IF/THEN® is part of Lyda Hill Philanthropies’ commitment to fund game-changing advancements in science and nature. IF/THEN® seeks to further advance women in STEM by empowering current innovators and inspiring the next generation of pioneers. Rooted in a firm belief that there is no better time to highlight positive and successful female professional role models, IF/THEN® is designed to activate a culture shift among young girls to open their eyes to STEM careers by: (1) funding and elevating women in STEM as role models, (2) convening cross-sector partners in entertainment, fashion, sports, business and academia to illuminate the importance of STEM everywhere, and (3) inspiring girls with better portrayals of women in STEM through media and learning experiences to pique their interest in STEM careers. To learn more, visit www.ifthenshecan.org or follow IF/THEN® on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About Mojo Supermarket

Over the past six-months, Mojo Supermarket has experienced significant growth, attracting business from such brands as Adidas, Amazon, Fenty, Girls Who Code and others. The agency was named a 2020 AdAge Agency to Watch, and was behind the highly celebrated disruptive campaign “Give Her A Break,” a streaming platform that replaced ads broadcast during the Oscars with clips from female-directed films, whose directors were ignored by this year’s Oscar judges.

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