Uncommon.org NYC Party

Uncommon.org NYC Party

We hope you will join us in New York City on June 3rd for the second annual Uncommon Party!

All proceeds from the event will be used to help our team in Zimbabwe reach its goals of training 150 young adults for the technology workforce, and providing free coding lessons to 5,000+ youths and young adults living on less than $5 per day.

Event Details:

Date & Time: June 3rd, 7-10pm

Venue: Betaworks, 29 Little West 12th Street, New York, NY

Open Bar, Small Bites, Music, Silent Auction

Get Your Tickets Here

Crucial to reaching our 2023 impact goals will be the opening of our Mbare and Victoria Falls Innovation Hubs in the second half of the year.

Our team couldn’t be more excited to deepen our impact in Harare through the Mbare Innovation Hub, while also expanding into our third city – Victoria Falls. Without the support from our generous donor community, none of this would be possible and we can’t wait to celebrate with some of you in New York City!

Joining us from South Africa will be Uncommon.org Zimbabwe Board President, Lionel Marumahoko, featured above (center), next to Dr. Mboweni (right), CEO of Zimbabwe’s largest technology company. The two recently visited the Mufakose Innovation Hub to speak with some of our current Bootcamp students about launching their careers in the technology industry.

Together with the Board & team, Uncommon.org management has set the lofty goal of 10xing our impact over the next three years, eventually bringing free coding & technology lessons to 50,000+ youths & young adults annually. We are so excited that our Board President, Mr. Marumahoko will be present to deliver the keynote address on the importance of reaching these expansion goals, especially given the speed at which we’re experiencing advancements in Artificial Intelligence.

This is a family friendly event and all are welcome. We hope we’ll be seeing you soon!

Click here to purchase your tickets today.

Econet Zimbabwe CEO, Dr. Mboweni Visits Uncommon.org’s Mufakose Innovation Hub

Econet Zimbabwe CEO, Dr. Mboweni Visits Uncommon.org’s Mufakose Innovation Hub

Special thank you to Uncommon.org Board Member, Lionel Marumahoko, for inviting the illustrious Dr. Mboweni, Chief Executive Officer of Econet Wireless – Zimbabwe’s most prolific technology company – for a town hall at our Mufakose Innovation Hub in Harare.

Dr. Mboweni met with Uncommon students to share his story and learn more about the magic happening in Mufakose and across all of our six Innovation Hubs.

It was a truly transformative experience for all involved; the day beginning with a tour of the Uncommon.org facilities where students showcased the design, development and digital marketing projects they’re working on – some for clients around the world.

In return, Dr. Mboweni shared his inspiring life journey which began as a radiant youth from the humble Joseph village in Mwenezi. As a child, Dr. Mboweni dreamed of driving airplanes. Today, he drives one of Africa’s brightest telecom giants.

The CEO of the largest tech company in the country drilled down on the importance of continuously striving for excellence daily, despite one’s present challenges. Our students were encouraged to shift their mindsets to realize the massive opportunities to create value and wealth in Zimbabwe and the globe by providing solutions that speak directly to the world’s gravest challenges.

Dr. Mboweni emphasized the importance of understanding oneself and where your strengths and talents lie, planning your journey in detail, setting your priorities and working towards them.

Our students were blessed with a life changing opportunity to join Dr. Mboweni’s Personal Career Strategic Plan group, where he mentors future leaders for success. Dr. Mboweni’s uncommon journey and inspirational talk left everyone in awe of the humble leader.

After the talk, the Uncommon.org WhatsApp groups were buzzing for hours. Here are a few quotes from our students and team members who had the privilege of meeting, speaking with, and listening to Dr. Mboweni:

“I was touched! I think what got to me most was that he comes from a background we can all relate to. We finally got to know him as more than just the CEO of a listed telecoms and technology giant. He started from humble beginnings just like us and he faced challenges just like us. We humanized him and we learned a great deal from his experiences. It’s beyond words!”

“That man is one of the best motivators out there!! I felt truly touched.”

“Thank you to Uncommon for affording us this great opportunity. Today’s guest was a pure inspiration and a story we could relate to. Knowing there is a Dr. Mboweni out there and meeting him was such an honor. I know a lot of people were impacted today, and we all went away with something that we will use to grow ourselves in the future.”

“Dr. Mboweni is carrying the light to drive a generation!!!”

“It was a surreal moment meeting one of the most important people in the country! I do not know how to express my gratitude to all the people who made this happen. Thank you so much!!”

“Having someone really appreciate and understand what you do is unmatched, especially when it comes from the CEO of one of the biggest brands in the region. What we are doing matters!!”

“The best way to learn is through stories, especially the ones we can relate to. Today was just an awesome day.”

“Today was really an amazing day for me! Thank you so much Uncommon for granting us such a wonderful opportunity to meet the CEO of a big company like Econet. We are now confident to meet and network with very influential people. Indeed it was a great honor.”

“It was an insightful event, we learned a lot – an eye opener to us all. Wow! To the CEO of Econet Zimbabwe, you made our year!”

“I got to open the gate for the CEO of the largest technology company in the country and he said my name more times than I can count. The feeling is just WOW…”

Uncommon.org February Impact Report

Uncommon.org February Impact Report

February was another awesome month for our team and students in Zimbabwe and we’re excited to share this quick update. 

Youth Coding

In February we had 1,502 students in enrolled in our free, after school coding program – a 3x increase from January.

These students are receiving two, 75 minute classes per week for a three month school term, where they’re learning how to build their own computer games. 

Recently, one of our instructors, Dylan, had this to say about the Youth Coding program,

“When we invest in our youth, we invest in our future. By teaching them the latest tech skills, we are creating a generation that is better equipped to face the challenges of the future. It’s not just about coding, it’s about creating a culture of innovation and progress.”

We can’t wait to bring coding into more classrooms this year!

Bootcamps

In February, our Harare students concluded their Digital Marketing crash course, the last of the preliminary modules before specialization.

The crash course was divided into four weeks, during which time students learned about the following:

  • Week 1: What is Digital Marketing? Content Marketing and Digital Analytics workshops.
  • Week 2: Email Marketing with MailChimp; Search Engine Optimization with Yoast
  • Week 3: Digital Marketing Automation, Display Advertising and Video Marketing
  • Week 4: Review, Practical Assignments and Examination

Now, students will decide which track – Design, Coding or Digital Marketing – they’d like to specialize in for the remaining six months. 

If you’re a professional in one of these fields and would like to Mentor a young student, please email delroy@uncommon.org

In Bulawayo, we faced delays receiving the laptops that were donated from America, but we’re happy to say that the devices have arrived and our 25 students all have their very own MacBooks now. 

While the students were waiting for their computers, our HR and Safeguarding Team visited from Harare to conduct a week of workshops focused on Safety, Health and Wellness at Uncommon.

Guest Speakers

We absolutely love hosting guests and guest speakers at our Hubs. For many of our students, this is often their first exposure to professionals in tech outside of their Uncommon peers.

If you’d like to visit a Hub or speak to our students (in person or virtually) please get in touch with delroy@uncommon.org.

In February we had the privilege of hosting the following, wonderful people and organizations at our various Innovation Hubs.

Nikolina Kobali of NK Digital and the Digital Marketing Institute. 

Munyaradzi Edson, Founder and CEO of iHelp Technology.

Simon Mukwaya and the Partnership for Initiative Development.

Claudia Koelher & Tina Garway of Farafina Institute.

Dr. Fumane Khanare of the University of Johannesburg.

Thank you all so much for visiting, learning about our program, and meeting & inspiring our students!!

Events

This year, we’re making a big push to both attend and host tech events throughout the year. 

For our students, exposure to what’s out there is almost just as important as the skills we’re teaching. Imposter syndrome is something many of us face, but it’s particularly acute in the communities we work in where there just aren’t that many obvious examples of people who’ve made a career in tech.

In February, we sent groups of students & staff to two events:

  • Girls In Tech Zimbabwe’s STEM In Heels Workshop
  • Zimbabwe Developer’s GitHub Festival

About the STEM In Heels workshop, our Youth Coding Director Tapiwa had this to say,

“The overall message of the conference was to encourage us to be bold, unafraid & intentional about taking up space in this male dominated field.

One of the key takeaways was from Lynette, an executive who stressed the need for us to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and pushing through the inevitable challenges, because that’s how we grow.

We weren’t shy about networking too, the Uncommon girls showed up & showed off 😃

We laughed & danced -in our heels 😇 

All in all, it was a fantastic day well spent & I’m sure we all took something invaluable away from the experience.”

While we have plenty more exciting news to share, we’ll leave it at this for now. 

As always, none of this is amazing work is possible without the incredible support from this Uncommon community. 

Thank you for believing in our mission and empowering our team to make tech more inclusive and accessible!

With Gratitude,

Peter & the amazing Uncommon.org Team

Uncommon.org Is Heading to Victoria Falls!

Uncommon.org Is Heading to Victoria Falls!

We have just learned some wonderful news!

Our grant application with the Australian Embassy in Zimbabwe to expand our work into Victoria Falls has officially been approved!

Despite it’s prominence as a world wonder, outside of the hospitality industry, opportunities for young people living in Victoria Falls are fairly limited.

In addition to providing free technology education for youths and young adults living in the Falls, we see this as a great opportunity to begin engaging young Zimbabweans living in the rural areas not far from the town, a first for our team.

And check out this design by our amazing pro-bono partner and award winning architect, Julius Taminiau!

While we’re still in the design phase, we believe this space has the potential to be Uncommon’s flagship location, and we can’t wait to push our creative limits and build a truly inspiring Hub for our beneficiaries!

Special Thanks

In addition to the Australian Embassy in Zimbabwe, we would like to thank the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation, as well as a handful of donors who wish to remain anonymous, for their incredible generosity and commitment to this project!

Get Involved

With their support, we are 70% of the way towards our fundraising goal, which includes construction of the space and 1 year’s operating expenses. 

If you would like to help us reach our goal and bring this amazing project to life, you can make a donation on our website here.

THANK YOU AND SEE YOU IN VICTORIA FALLS!!!

Uncommon.org January Impact Report

Uncommon.org January Impact Report

Things at Uncommon have gotten off to a great start in January, and we just wanted to quickly share some of the highlights with you!

Youth Coding

In January, we had 515 youths from 8 different schools enrolled in our free, after school coding program.

Over the next couple of months, we’ll be rolling out our programs across 40+ schools. Our team can’t wait to be teaching coding to 1,000s of youths every month! 

Bootcamps

We currently have 84 young adults enrolled in our full-time technology bootcamps across our five Harare Innovation Hubs. In January, the students finished the coding module, and have just begun their final crash course in Digital Marketing.

After this module, students will pick a track to specialize in and will be matched with 1 on 1 Mentorship for the remaining 6 months.

If you’d like to be a mentor, please shoot an email to delroy@uncommon.org.  

At our Nedbank Innovation Hub in Emganwini, Bulawayo, 25 students have been accepted from a large applicant pool. These students will begin as soon as our latest shipment of computers arrives from America!

We can’t wait to get started there!

PS

If everyone in that picture looks amazing, that’s because they are! AND, students across our various hubs have begun dedicating one day a week to wearing formal dress. 

One student recently stated the reasons being that, “…how you dress and present yourself often determines how you are respected and viewed by others, and you never know when someone from outside of the organization might stop by. It’s important that you give off a great impression as you never know what might come from that interaction…”

This was all inspired by our Friday Inner Engineering sessions, where recent conversations have been focused on Professionalism and Work Ethic.

Guest Speakers

In January, some amazing guest speakers visited our various Hubs to meet our students.

Lionel Marumahoko (SNR), one of our Zimbabwe Board Members, invited David Gate, Country Director for Trade and Investment at the British Embassy, to join for a conversation that left our students extremely inspired!

We also had the pleasure of welcoming Munyaradzi Sydney Chinzvende, Chief Technology Officer at Zimbotech, an IT Services & Consulting business in Harare to the Nicki Keszler Innovation Hub in Kuwadzana.

Munyaradzi spoke about entrepreneurship, website development and what it takes to start a business in the digital space.

Workshops

We recognize that there are many people that would love to participate in our programs and learn more about the digital world, who are unable to commit to a full-time program.

For this reason, we are introducing part-time courses & workshops to better serve our communities in 2023.

In January, we hosted our first Digital Skills workshop for 16 participants at our Dzivarasekwa Innovation Hub. 

We have also launched a weekend outreach program to bring free coding lessons to youths living in marginalized communities further from our Innovation Hubs. 

Special shoutout to the Uncommon team members and students who donated time on their weekends to teach and empower!

While we have plenty more exciting news to share, we’ll leave it at this for now. 

As always, none of this is amazing work is possible without the incredible support from this Uncommon community. 

Thank you for believing in our mission and empowering our team to make tech more inclusive and accessible!

With Gratitude,

Peter & the amazing Uncommon.org Team

I’m Denzel, And This Is My Uncommon Story

I’m Denzel, And This Is My Uncommon Story

My name is Denzel Takudzwa, a 2022-2023 student at Uncommon.org and that’s a picture from the recent Uncommon 5 Year Celebration.

Can you guess which person I am??

Today, I took over the Uncommon.org mailing list. My goal was to share my story with all of our supporters – so I’m happy to share it here on our blog as well.

Ok so growing up, I’ve always been overly passionate for everything art and technology. And I always dreamed and prayed for an opportunity where I could express myself in that space.

In my head, I kept saying, “When I’m 19, I’m going to apply for a scholarship and go to the UK to study Graphic Design and Software Development.”

But of course that didn’t happen. Life’s not that easy, lol.

When it all seemed as if I had to give up on my dream and choose a different path in life, I met Beaven, a 2021 Uncommon Bootcamp Cohort alumnus, who introduced me to Uncommon.org.

And I’ll be honest, it sounded too good to be true. But, I signed up for it anyway… And I got accepted.

I packed my stuff and hit the road from Kwekwe, a small city in the Midlands of Zimbabwe. Since then, I’ve never looked back. I was enrolled in the bootcamp at the Mufakose Hub, and the experience there has just been phenomenal!

I’d never thought it possible, that all that I’d dreamed about doing after high school, could be done.

I didn’t even have to go to the UK for it. And better yet, I didn’t have to pay!

Thanks to the team at Uncommon, I received my first job offer just 3 months into the bootcamp. At the age of 20.

And things have only looked up ever since!

While I still hope to graduate with Uncommon, I also can’t wait to get started at my first job!

I chose to take this opportunity because I can see the potential for growth at the company I’m joining. I want to see how far I can go, how far I can push myself. I want to increase my creativity and efficiency.

I wasn’t really planning on starting to work this soon but I just told myself, “why not?”

I’m not working to earn, I’m working to learn.

But…it’s great to get paid while I’m doing it! 

For all that Uncommon has done for my life so far, I can only be grateful. For their provision, drive, motivation, and commitment to bettering our lives, I am determined to learn as much as I can so I can give back to the students that will follow in my footsteps.

So thank you Uncommon.

And thank YOU reader, for giving me an opportunity and being a part of my uncommon journey.