Tinyiko Simbine
Nominee's Province:
Gauteng
Project Name/Description:
Co-founder, Girl Code
She is not only a founder of an entity doing fantastically well but plays a key role in the largest women-led ICT company in South Africa, and she has no intention of stopping.
Simbine has eight years of experience, and her achievements in this period surpass what a new entity, largely led by young women, can achieve over such a short period.
With a previous recognition in the Mail and Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans 2020, Simbine beams with pride when she looks back at what started as a hackathon to ignite girls’ passion for tech, which has now grown into a national non-profit organisation impacting hundreds of young girls through various initiatives.
Running the financial and operational sides of the NPO, Simbine has been instrumental in growing the organisation’s initiatives into nationwide, free, volunteer-led weekend coding clubs designed for females of various ages.
Simbine says: “Our sole aim is to equip girls with a strong foundation in digital literacy and programming skills.”
Simbine continues to be in demand as a speaker and MC and has been featured in several women in tech conferences and webinars. Her insights have also been featured on various TV shows, such as eNCA, SABC, Talk Radio 702, Power FM, Kaya FM and SA FM.
Simbine says: “As a young girl, it is very important for you to have role models who look just like you to give you that extra push. When you have people who look just like you, to look up to. Your ability to thrive and succeed increases.”
She concludes: “Technology needs girls to help invent the future. Especially in a country where there are millions of unemployed young people, we must break the stereotype that technology careers are ‘too hard’ for girls.”
