Q1 2024 DataCamp Donates Digest

Why DataCamp Donates Exists

DataCamp Donates’ mission is simple: Provide free data and AI education to those who need it most.

We’re living through a time of profound geopolitical uncertainty. The result—displacement, personal loss, heightened poverty, and reduced access to resources.

One of the best tools we have to improve any individual situation—education—is one of the first to be removed in the wake of a political, economic, or environmental crisis.

 However, with the advent of decentralized education fuelled by online learning opportunities, providing quality education access is now possible on a large scale.

With DataCamp Donates, we have an opportunity to provide free data and AI learning—some of the world’s most in-demand skills—to all corners of the world. 

As of writing, combined with our DataCamp Classrooms initiative, we’ve offered over 1 Million scholarships across the world.

For free. And, we’re just getting started.

Learner Stories: Education in Action

Looking back on the first quarter of 2024, we’ve witnessed groundbreaking results from Donates communities.

From spotlighting empowered youth in Costa Rica to celebrating data portfolios from Palestine to Nigeria, take a peek at the moments that have defined the latest chapter in our Donates story.

100% Salary Increase: Innovation Kgotla in Botswana

Of all our achievements this quarter, creating the new Success Story Submission Form has been the most , validating, and tallying over 1,000 new professional success stories from our DataCamp Donates Scholars. One of the favorites we received was from Botswana

Phodiso Mogots, a learner of DataCamp Donates’ partner Innovation Kgotla's Unleashing Africa Institute in Botswana, illustrates the transformative power of data and AI learning for both herself and her community.

Through her data analyst job with Youth Impact, she attained a 100% salary increase, and she can now provide similar opportunities to young people in her country.

“[Before DataCamp Donates], I was working part-time as a tutor and lecturer. The pay was not very stable (every couple of months). I used DataCamp to learn R, and SQL and expand my Excel proficiency. After attaining data analytics skills,  I gained a new career and a sense of stability. I loved the program.”

The Winning Groups of our DataCamp Donates Portfolio Challenge

Over 25 DataCamp Donates Partner organizations were invited to participate in collecting top portfolios from their groups. 

Not only do we learn best by doing, but employers need to see applications alongside proof of learning. Portfolios are a fantastic way to encourage deeper application and inspire learners to test their skills with more complex projects.

The results were sophisticated arresting and came from all corners of the world. In this blog post, we salute the learners and admins of winning organizations: Gaza Sky Geeks in the West Bank, Code to Inspire in Afghanistan, Ingressive for Good across Africa, FTW Foundation in the Philippines, and Women in Data's global community. 

How Women & Data Costa Rica Bridges Data Science and Art

Since November 2021, Women & Data Costa Rica has successfully graduated two cohorts of students who had access to DataCamp professional licenses at no cost.

One particular student is Yarubi. She went from zero experience to entering the National Data Visualization Contest of Costa Rica, creating a Power BI dashboard that analyzed the gender distribution across university programs in the country—securing third place in her division.

You can read the full story of hope and ingenuity here.

Adding 6,500 Scholarships and Doubling our Success Stories

A look at the numbers. In the first three months of the year, we added over 6,500 new scholarships to learners. 

Not only were scholarships delivered, we saw a near-record uptake, with an 89% adoption rate of those subscriptions across the board.

Driving the adoption and scholarships were 26 new partners, including Dent Education—a youth innovation hub based in Baltimore City, Maryland.

“In our earn-to-learn internships, creative BIPOC high schoolers launch ventures and find mentors and lifelong friends. We build relationships across socioeconomic classes by having youth from public and private schools launch ventures together utilizing tech tools like DataCamp Donates to help propel their process.”—Dent Education

We also onboarded 16 returning partners that reapplied to the program, taking us up to 42 total partner organizations onboarded in Q1. 

“The success stories from our partnership with DataCamp Donates are truly inspiring. From individuals securing new job opportunities to others using their newfound skills to drive innovation within their communities, the ripple effects of this collaboration are profound.” Ayush Subedi, Advisor, Code for Nepal

Like all courses, career tracks, and projects, DataCamp Certifications are freely available to all Donates scholarship recipients.

Ranked the #1 data certification program by Forbes, DataCamp Certifications are an international, industry-leading validation of your data skills. 

An excellent boost to any CV, wherever you are on your learning journey.

Scholars earned over 200 Certifications in Q1. Underpinning this achievement, the certified Donates scholars account for over 10% of all Certifications DataCamp awarded in Q1.

But our greatest achievement was receiving, validating, and tallying over 1,000 newly attained jobs and other professional successes from our DataCamp Donates Scholars.

A transformative quarter of hard work from the Donates community. Congratulations to all for their hard work!

DataCamp Donates Stories Around the World

Take a peek at the stories by our partners around the world showcasing how learning changes lives.

Seeing cancer rates decrease with the help of Data Science

Powercoders, a longtime partner, published this interview which showcases how medical practitioners can see cancer rates improve with the help of data science. The Powercoders DataTrack is based on DataCamp courses and made possible through the donates program

Becoming a Leading Data Scientist: A Conversation with Bruce McKenzie

In January 2023, Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT) Kenya entered into a partnership with DataCamp. The partnership aimed to provide scholarships to Kenya’s most underserved youth, who are interested in learning and strengthening their skills in data analytics.

Including Bruce McKenzie’s remarkable journey: "The skills and knowledge I acquired through the DataCamp scholarship have been instrumental in my current data analyst role at a tech startup. I can now clean and analyze large datasets, create insightful visualizations, and build predictive models to support business decisions. "

Unlocking Creativity: AI Day V2 Highlights

Data science in action means real people gathering to move the field forward through collaboration, experimentation, and networking. That's why DataCamp Donates Partner orgs are required to meet regularly with their learners.

Some partner organizations take these meetups one step further and arrange multi-day conventions and hackathons, like ENSIAS AI Club in Algieria, and generously list DataCamp as their sponsor.

AI enthusiasts and innovators gathered in Aligiers from February 16 to 18, 2024, for Donates partner ENSIAS AI Club’s flagship event of the year, AI Day V2, sponsored by HPS Foundation and Fondation Dislog Group. 

Conclusion: Apply Now to DataCamp Donates!

Education changes lives. And, there is little doubt data and AI skills are quickly defining this next generation of work.

No credit card is ever required. Applications for Q3 2024 are now open and close on July 31, 2024 at 5:00 PM ET. 

To get unlimited access to all DataCamp has to offer, including all 480+ courses, career tracks, certifications, and more, apply to become a DataCamp Donates Partner today!