Kode with Klossy- Closing the Gender Equity Gap in Tech

Jeff Kavanaugh:

I'm Jeff Kavanaugh, Global Head of the Infosys Knowledge Institute. And we're here at Infosys Foundation USA, Crossroads 2025, where leaders across education, technology, and social impact have come together to shape the future of learning. I'm joined by Osi Imeokparia, CEO of Kode with Klossy, a nonprofit dedicated to closing the gender equity gap in tech. Osi brings deep cross-sector experience from leading product and technology teams at Google and eBay to shaping justice and opportunity efforts at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and serving as Chief Product Officer for the Hillary for America presidential campaign. Osi, thank you for joining us and for your vital work that you do and your team does to unlock opportunity in equity in tech. We're honored to support your mission through this interview. Welcome.

Osi Imeokparia:

Good morning. It's so good to be here. Thank you for having me.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

You bet. Excited about this to see you again with your earlier work. With your leadership journey across tech, philanthropy, and civic engagement, what inspired your transition to leading a nonprofit like Kode with Klossy?

Osi Imeokparia:

Yeah, I love that question because for me I feel so deeply called to this work. Called is a good word. I, you know, as you mentioned, I've had the good fortune to have a really long career working in tech myself. And when I reflect on sort of how I want to spend my time and what's the highest and best use of my talent, I can think of nothing better than to how we can usher in a whole new generation of young women to hopefully have fruitful and meaningful careers in the same way that I had. And so to be able to work with our incredible team of educators to really make sure that that possibility and that opportunity is available to as many young people as possible is I can think of nothing better to do.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

And when your event visited our campus, that was electric. That sheer energy for all those young women. You've been CEO of Kode with Klossy for a little over a year. What's been the most eye-opening for you during this time? And how are you shaping the next phase of the organization's impact?

Osi Imeokparia:

Yeah, I mean, it's 8:30 in the morning, but I can't answer that question without talking about AI and the impact of AI on the work that we have been doing at Kode with Klossy. Because as I mentioned, our mission is to think about how we can increase the number of young women who are participating meaningfully in technology. And so we need to prepare them for the world in which AI is part of that future.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

Partnerships are central to your work, including the one self-serving here with Infosys Foundation USA. What role do these collaborations like these play in scaling your ambition and your mission? And how do they extend your reach?

Osi Imeokparia:

Corporate partners are everything. They are the lifeblood really of what we do at Kode with Klossy. And I'm so grateful for the work that we've been able to do with you guys over the past several years.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

What I'm excited about and really impressed with your organization is it isn't just a corporate partnership to get some funding, maybe convene a venue, it's provide a bridge realizing there's a goal to this, productive, fulfilled adults for people, for young women who haven't necessarily even thought about that as a career.

Osi Imeokparia:

Absolutely, it's not transactional in any way, right? It's beyond the funding. It truly is that proximity to the employees to really speak on panels, mentor projects. It's an integral part of what we do, so I'm glad that you pointed that out.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

Awesome. Well, your programs have impacted over 6,000 students one-on-one since 2022 with alumni participating in events like International Day of the Girl at the New York Stock Exchange. What other outcomes or success stories stand out the most to you?

Osi Imeokparia:

We meet these young people when they're 13 to 18, but our programs are sticky and longitudinal, right? So I have met a young woman, Caitlin Rodriguez, who actually went to International Women's Day. She joined our community at 16. Caitlin's now 24, right? And she works at Microsoft in a security team. And what impact is she making to other young women? Well, she is a role model, right? Ambassador. She is able to come back into our program. She was an instructor assistant, which is part of the work that we do to take members of our community who have gone through our programs, right? And they can now return as near peer leaders to inspire the next cohort and generation. And so Caitlin is one of those young people that was able to do the program at 16, come back as an instructor assistant is now in the workforce. And hopefully, as she progresses in her career, she can come back and be that career-connected speaker, mentor, or inspiration for the next round of young people that we bring to the program. So I think that the work that we're doing, again, is longitudinal. It's how can we be supportive infrastructure for you in your educational and career pathway aspirations, and again, make sure that we're retaining young women on that journey. And again, I can't think of a better example than Caitlin.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

It's worth emphasizing that phrase near peer leader because even if we're well intended, if you or I was helping someone, it's different than if someone just a few years their senior, they can see I'm that person. I can be that person soon.

Osi Imeokparia:

Exactly, I love that you pointed that out because I think we often talk a lot about mentors, right? And people imagine as a mentor is like the CEO or the VP and as many, many years ahead in their career. And certainly mentorship is valuable at that level, but the proximity of a near peer mentor, I think is just as high impact. And so we do focus on how can we use that proximity of age and experience to help encourage people on the pathway.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

For centuries, millennia, humans had an apprentice model in families and in work and trades. In some respects, you're getting back to that because they're learning.

Osi Imeokparia:

Exactly. Hands on.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

Exactly, it's a progress and it's that apprenticeship sort of idea.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

Awesome. Well, there's still a gender gap in tech. No matter how you measure it. And from your perspective, what will it take to close that gap? And how is Kode with Klossy intentionally working with the next generation to do so?

Osi Imeokparia:

Yeah, we think about this, I think about this every day, right? I think when you think about the statistics of the gender gap, it's, you know, great organizations like Code.org, have made sure that computer science fundamentals are available in as many high schools and middle schools across the U.S.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

And message it to make it sexy for everybody. I mean, you know, interesting.

Osi Imeokparia:

But I think the point is that even with that great work to make it accessible, young men in high school are still twice as likely to take computer science as their female peers, right? So why is that? Why isn't access enough to close the gender gap? And we assess the landscape to say, it's not just about access, it's not just about the skill acquisition. We really need to think about the cultures that are welcoming or not welcoming of women, right? What are the values? What are the experiences, the learning environments, the workplace environments that truly create a radical invitation for women to join. It can't just be we're here and we're not reaching out a hand and we're not creating space and we're not thinking of policy.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

So from access to invitation.

Osi Imeokparia:

Yes, access to invitation. And so I think that's what it's going to take. And our theory of change really is around, again, as I mentioned, how can we continue to pour into these young people and make sure they have the AI and coding skills that prepares them for the future? But how can we work with Infosys Foundation and Infosys and other corporate partners to create the conditions for their success in the workplace around culture? And so that means process, that means policy, that means practices. How are we baking into the structures of the workforce those things that are going to be a radical invitation for women to join. And I think that culture and that radical invitation is what's missing in closing that gender gap.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

I like that, radical invitation.

Osi Imeokparia:

Radical invitation. Purposeful and radical.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

Well, I'm part of the Infosys Knowledge Institute, so we're thought leadership with the business research arm. How do you think about the role thought leadership plays in getting your message across? Data, research, case studies or stories, how does that help you get your message, either to sponsors, partners, or to the actual students?

Osi Imeokparia:

Well, I think it’s everything, right? I think in the work that we're doing, we not only need to capture minds, but hearts as well, hearts and minds. And so it's story and stories like Caitlin and the 11,000 other members of our community, that sort of creates an emotional hook and an emotional center for the work. But then, yeah, the data helps as well. And so one of the things we've been able to do is to take our longitudinal insights that we have over the many, many years and many scholars that we've supported and actually show that if you create supportive infrastructure, know what? 70% of Kode with Klossy alumni go on to get computer science degrees or engineering majors or minors, right? That is 18 times the national average, right?

Jeff Kavanaugh:

18 times?

Osi Imeokparia:

18, it's 4% of women.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

That’s worth a high five.

Osi Imeokparia:

Awesome. 4% of women are getting these degrees and we are able to, through the work that we're doing and the impact that we have, really fundamentally shift those metrics. So story and data is integral to what we do and that package of thought leadership.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

So you reach their head and their heart.

Osi Imeokparia:

It's their hearts, but it also again, our partners, it's the industry, it's really how we think about all of the influences that shape young women's experience. Everybody needs that package of thought leadership and the story and the data obviously, I mean, you know this go hand in hand for that.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

Awesome. Well, I know you've got a conference to go back to.

Osi Imeokparia:

Yes, I'm so excited to do that.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

Osi, thank you so much for joining us and the vital work that you and your team are doing to unlock opportunity and equity in tech and AI.

Osi Imeokparia:

Thank you, Jeff. Have a great day.

Jeff Kavanaugh:

Thank you. Go enjoy the conference.