Behind the Source by Hack Your Future
Behind the Source of some of the websites we use daily, are lines of code by talented developers who’ve had to overcome the hardships of war and political unrest. Here are their stories.
Background:
Between 2014 and 2015, tens of thousands of refugees came to the Netherlands, mainly fleeing war in Syria and Eritrea. Even though many of them were given residency permits, today they are still struggling to find work. Hack Your Future, helps them become web-developers through a 7-month program — empowering them by unlocking a career within big names of the tech industry. But even with a shortage of developers in the Netherlands, stereotypes and stigmas are still blinding many recruiters, preventing them from looking outside of their usual pool of talent. The ambition of ‘Behind the Source’ is to address this very issue and to open recruiters’ eyes, one code line at a time.
Being a refugee wasn’t their choice.
Becoming a developer was.
Idea:
‘Behind the Source’ is an awareness campaign launched by Hack Your Future (a coding school for refugees) that aims to reframe the conversation around refugees and tackles the many misconceptions, stigmas and prejudices that shadow their potential when it comes to applying for a job. It consists of seven portraits that have been hidden in the source code of the online homepages of companies, such as eBay and Accenture, where Hack Your Future graduates now work. All people have to do is go on these websites — such as Ebay and Accenture — click ‘View Source’ in their browser to discover the portraits, hidden in the code, and read the exceptional journeys of those who went from refugees to employees.
Results:
In the end, a potential of +24000 visitors went behind the source, reframing the conversation around refugees in the Netherlands, and beyond — even getting the initiative referenced by the UN Agency as best in class. Thirteen new companies contacted Hack Your Future to hire graduates and sponsor the program, which eventually raised the number of graduates who successfully found a job to 120: 120 individuals who refused to let a label define their future.
Credits
Agency: 72andSunny, Amsterdam
Client: Hack Your Future
Product: Coding School for Refugees
Campaign: Behind the Source
Category: Experiential marketing
