Calling all students, teachers, parents, and engineers

Last year, we unveiled the Hour of Code: a grassroots campaign to recruit ten million students to try their hand at computer science — to break stereotypes and to remove the veil of mystery that surrounds the field. The campaign blew past its goal in days and has now reached 44 million students worldwide, almost half of whom have been girls.

For this year’s Computer Science Education Week (December 8 - 14), we want the Hour of Code to reach a cumulative 100 million students, worldwide. Today dozens of the largest companies, including Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Salesforce.com, and Target are joining forces to support this goal. Whether you’re a student, a teacher, or a parent, you can help us reach this goal.

We’re also launching a historic crowd-funding campaign. In the next 60 days we’re raising $5 million: to help us reach 100 million students and train 10,000 new teachers to expand access to computer science in schools. Every dollar donated will be matched, so please consider a generous gift in support.

I first learned to program a computer when I was 10 years old, when I lived in Iran, during the war with Iraq. 30 years later, living in the USA, the majority of our schools still don’t offer children the opportunity to participate in creating the technology that surrounds us. A sea change in education takes a critical mass, and we need your help. I’m humbled by the generous support of Code.org’s donors and partners and know we’re on our way to giving every student access to this foundational field through the Hour of Code.

The generous donors matching gifts to our crowd-funding campaign are: Microsoft, Google, Salesforce.com, Omidyar Network, Quadrivium Foundation, Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, and Feroz and Erica Dewan.

Participating tech companies include: Atlassian, Chegg, Dice.com, Disney Interactive, Dropbox, Eventbrite, Facebook, GoDaddy, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Juniper Networks, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Optimizely, Pearson, Pluralsight, Redfin, Salesforce.com, Target, TASER, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), viagogo, Whitepages, Workday, Yelp, Zappos, Zillow, zulily, and Y Combinator.

Each of these companies will ask employees to support the Hour of Code in a variety of ways, including trying the Hour of Code themselves, spreading the word to local schools, hosting Hour of Code events at company offices, and donating to the crowd-funding campaign to enable millions of students globally to participate in the Hour of Code.

“The Hour of Code helps students discover the fun of coding and more importantly, how it can be a catalyst to create and achieve great things,” says Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. “Together, we can foster a vibrant pool of technically talented young people who are passionate and empowered to change the world.”

"Nothing is more important than the education of our children," says Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. "I encourage everyone to participate in the Hour of Code, so that we can give every child the skills needed to be successful in the 21st Century."

"Technology touches nearly every aspect of our lives,” says Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube. “By teaching kids computer science, Code.org exposes students to important skills for understanding their world and building the future.”

We all know the tech industry suffers a lack of diversity in its workforce. We can fix this. We are fixing this. The Hour of Code creates an opportunity for every student – boys and girls, of all backgrounds – to try computer science together, worldwide. Please join us, and make history.

Hadi Partovi, Code.org

Photos: Code.org / LinkedIn