Social impact
Our mission is to teach coding in a way that’s so simple, that everyone can achieve success in their careers and hobbies. Core to that belief is that we want everyone to be able to achieve success – regardless of their gender, race, sexuality, or socioeconomic background.
We know that the fastest way of achieving this is to support organizations that are also working towards these goals, and so we actively seek out ways to do this – whether it’s by providing financial support, or through giving in-person mentorship and expertise to those who need it most.
We’ve helped our community of over 1,000,000 learners and developers to gain digital skills through educational resources including courses, interactive apps, eBooks, and technical tutorials. We’re incredibly proud of how they’ve used what they’ve learned to make a positive difference in the world.
Finally, we realize that digital skills are meaningless if we don’t have our health or a world in which to enjoy them. So in addition to supporting organizations focused on educational and developer opportunities, we have supported a range of other causes that are close to our hearts.
Check out the social initiatives that Zenva and our developer community have been involved with below.
LOCAL
DIGITREK21 WORKSHOP: INTRO TO CLOUD AI
Our founder and CEO Pablo Farías Navarro hosted a workshop for the Digitrek 21 initiative – a free event designed to provide local school and tertiary students, educators, and members of the public with the skills and information needed to succeed with digital technologies. Funded by TAFE Queensland, Southern Cross University, and Study Gold Coast, this workshop allowed participants to gain hands-on experience in adding AI elements to games and apps.
ICT GATEWAY TO INDUSTRY SCHOOLS PROGRAM
As part of the ICT Gateway to Industry Schools Program (GISP) – an initiative run by the ACS and funded by the Queensland Government’s Department of Employment, Small Business and Training and The Australian Computer Society – we have hosted interactive panels and Q&A sessions at local high schools, and mentoring sessions with entrepreneurial students and teachers. We have provided audits and enhancements to lesson content to help align classroom delivery with industry practice, and granted scholarships to local teachers to help them gain cutting-edge coding skills.
UNITE SYDNEY: VR WORKSHOP
Zenva Founder and CEO Pablo Farías Navarro held a virtual reality workshop for Unite Sydney. Hosted by Unity Technologies, this conference allowed developers to explore new cutting-edge tools and inspire creativity throughout a wide range of digital industries.
TAFE QUEENSLAND HACKATHON
Associate Lecturer Anne Stevens invited Zenva founder and CEO Pablo Farías Navarro to judge TAFE Queensland’s Hackathon and to mentor senior high school students. Ann had previously used the resources from Zenva’s courses to create the mobile build for a VR competition event, and by providing students with the skills and resources needed in an increasingly digital economy, this hackathon helped to set emerging innovators up for success.
PETER DARCY: INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF VR DEVELOPERS
Peter Darcy has used the skills learned through our courses to create new educational applications that will inspire the next generation to enter the field of virtual reality development. With the help of his leadership and expertise, his students won the VR Storytelling category in Queensland’s Quickstart2VR event.
TING CHIEH LIN: VR FOR PATIENT REHABILITATION
As part of his Masters of Design research, Ting Chieh Lin used the skills learned through Zenva’s courses to create VR experiences with targeted health outcomes – from relieving stress, to rehabilitating arm injuries by encouraging patients to “punch” with their VR controllers.
GLOBAL
CHILD’S PLAY
Child’s Play is dedicated to improving children’s lives with toys and games in hospitals and domestic violence shelters. In partnership with Humble Bundle, we proudly helped to raise funds for this cause through our Learn to Code Bundle.
CODE.ORG
Code.org is a nonprofit that increases the accessibility of computer science in schools, with a focus on supporting young women and students from marginalized racial and ethnic groups. In partnership with Humble Bundle, we proudly helped to raise funds for this cause through our Intro to Code Bundle, JavaScript Coding Bundle, Learn and Play VR & AR Game Dev Bundle, Learn Coding to Build Games 2021 Bundle, JavaScript and Web Development Bundle, and Build Roblox Games bundle.
DONORS CHOOSE
DonorsChoose helps teachers in need, providing students with the tools and experiences that they need for a great education. In partnership with Humble Bundle, we proudly helped to raise funds for this cause through our How to Create Mobile Apps and Games Bundle and Intro to Code 2021 Bundle.
GIRLS WHO CODE
Girls Who Code is on a mission to close the gender gap in technology. Valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion, they provide resources and experiences that are designed to help girls and women succeed in computer science. In partnership with Humble Bundle, we proudly helped to raise funds for this cause through our Intro to Code Bundle, Learn and Play VR & AR Game Dev Bundle, Learn Coding to Build Games 2021 Bundle, Build Roblox Games bundle, and Supercharge Your Microsoft Excel Skills bundle.
GIRLS INC.
Girls Inc. is a non-profit organization that helps to support, mentor, and guide girls by providing academic enrichment, life skills instruction, and promoting healthy living. In partnership with Humble Bundle, we proudly helped to raise funds for this cause through our How to Create Mobile Apps and Games Bundle.
INTEL INNOVATOR OF TOMORROW: PABLO FARIAS
Intel recognized Zenva Founder and CEO Pablo Farias as an Innovator of Tomorrow. His interview was featured on a monthly show designed to inspire emerging developers and provide them with insight into the industry.
LITTLE FREE LIBRARY
Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization that works to expand access to literature to everyone. In partnership with Humble Bundle, we proudly helped to raise funds for this cause through our Complete Unreal Engine Bundle.
LOTUS OUTREACH INTERNATIONAL
Lotus Outreach International empowers vulnerable women and children living in poverty by proving education, training, and safe transport. In partnership with Humble Bundle, we proudly helped to raise funds for this cause through The Complete Unity Game Development Bundle.
KHAN ACADEMY
Zenva Founder and CEO Pablo Farías Navarro held a virtual reality workshop for Unite Sydney. Hosted by Unity Technologies, this conference allowed developers to explore new cutting-edge tools and inspire creativity throughout a wide range of digital industries.
NPOWER
NPower’s mission is to lift people out of poverty by providing military veterans and young adults from underserved communities with tech skills and career opportunities. In partnership with Humble Bundle, we proudly helped to raise funds for this cause through our Learn to Make Survival Games with Unity bundle.
WOMEN WHO CODE
Women Who Code inspires women to excel in technology careers. They empower women with professional skills, educate companies, and build a global community of members and mentors to support this generation of engineers. In 2016, we provided 182 scholarships to members of Women Who Code, providing them with free access to a JavaScript course that helped them to learn skills that form the foundations of games, apps, websites, and more.
WORLDREADER
Worldreader knows that people who can read achieve better educational success, improve their earning potential, and lead healthier, happier lives. They use digital reading solutions to help vulnerable and underserved communities around the world, improving workforce readiness and gender equity. In partnership with Humble Bundle, we proudly helped to raise funds for this cause through our JavaScript Coding Bundle.
ARTURO MACÍAS: GAMES TO CHANGE DYSLEXIA
With the skills learned through Zenva’s courses, Arturo Macías developed a ground-breaking game designed to help children with dyslexia. Dytective has been scientifically validated, features 42,000 games that target specific strengths and weaknesses, and has touched the lives of over 315,000 people.
CÉSAR GIMÉNEZ LASCANO: GAMES FOR EDUCATION
César Giménez Lascano is a teacher who used Zenva’s courses to learn HTML5 development with Phaser. His new skills inspired him to adapt the dynamics of retro video games to Argentina’s national classroom contents, creating innovative learning tools that help students to excel and achieve success in their studies.
DEREK CURRY: CODING FOR EDUCATION & SOCIAL ACTIVISM
Derek Curry is an Assistant Professor of Game Design. He has used Zenva’s courses to help give his students the skills needed to succeed in their studies and future careers, and created games that help people to engage with social issues including politics, institutional fraud, and fake news.
DUSTIN MCMURRY: INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF DEVELOPERS
Teacher Dustin McMurry learned development from Zenva’s courses and then passed the skills directly on to his students. From learning the basics, his students used what they’d learned to benefit their local community by creating a free website with an integrated game for a local business.
MEL MOORE: BATTLING IMPOSTER SYNDROME IN STEM
During her studies, Mel Moore experienced imposter syndrome, and soon became aware that this was a common experience for those in STEM. She built upon skills learned through Zenva’s courses to create her own blog website, which helps those in STEM to tackle imposter syndrome, find resources for learning coding, and access practical career advice – providing the next generation of tech professionals with the support that they need to enter this sector.
OLIVER MENSAH: GROWING DEVELOPER COMMUNITIES
Oliver Mensah used Zenva’s courses to bolster his programming skills. With his love of development, he set out to inspire people and help them to access the skills needed to succeed in the industry by volunteering, tutoring at boot camps, and supporting his local developer communities by acting as the Co-Lead of the Accra Facebook Developer Circle. He went on to found Brightfield Tech Academy – a school in the Sefwi region that provides underserved communities with access to tech hardware and education. In 2022, we provided Brightfield students with 20 scholarships in support of Oliver’s mission.
RYAN BUCHANAN: REVOLUTIONIZING EDTECH WITH VR
The skills Ryan Buchanan learned through Zenva’s courses helped him to take VR into classrooms and engage kids with learning. Having designed a curriculum that introduces kids to virtual reality, he’s helped to inspire thousands of kids and educators to get creative with this cutting-edge digital technology.
SALVATORE TEDDE: GAMES FOR POLITICAL ACTIVISM
Salvatore Tedde saw how people were becoming increasingly disenfranchised and disengaged with politics. Using the skills learned through Zenva’s courses, he created a game designed to help people of all backgrounds to engage with politics interactively.