Hélène Virolan co-founded social enterprise Girls Into Coding (GIC) with her 14-year-old multi-technology award-winning daughter, Avye Couloute, in 2018. “GIC is highly committed to redressing the gender imbalance in the tech and maker community,” explains Hélène. “Our overarching objective is to address and champion gender diversity and challenge stereotypes in STEM [science, technology, engineering and maths]. We want to help to bring about a situation where girls and women are engaged in STEM activities, education and careers equally comfortably, with an equal sense of belonging and in equal numbers.”

The team seeks to empower girls aged 10 to 14 by providing free, hands-on opportunities to explore coding, physical computing, 3D design and robotics, as well as organising inspirational talks from role models in the coding space. Its aim is to help girls “develop their confidence and sense of belonging in tech settings and encourage a belief in their abilities to embark upon becoming the tech leaders of the future”, says Hélène.

Alongside GIC, Hélène and her business partner, Ben Money-Coomes, co-founded Green Green Technology, which manufactures robotic refilling stations for any cleaning fluid – from soaps to shampoos and laundry liquids. Their aim is to provide sustainable solutions to help reduce waste and pollution. Passionate about using technology for good, she and Ben also intend to use their product as an educational tool to demonstrate to young people that technology can both improve your day-to-day life and protect the environment. “We are at the beginning of our journey and are planning to launch to market our first solution this year,” she explains.

Like so many businesses, GIC felt the impact of Covid-19 in a number of ways. With social distancing in place the team could no longer run its scheduled in-person events, and funding opportunities became limited as grant-awarding bodies focused on direct responses to the pandemic. “Conveying the importance of STEM education to potential stakeholders in this situation has proven to be difficult,” says Hélène. 

However, the team quickly adapted its strategy to keep engaging with its community and has been successfully delivering workshops and events via Zoom. “To maintain the hands-on element of our events and continue making them accessible to girls from diverse backgrounds, we also had to direct our efforts towards developing materials, resources and kits that are suitable for remote workshops,” Hélène adds. “We have had to manage the logistics of posting materials and kits out to the girls, which they could physically use at home while participating in virtual events, as well as making sure they could be returned to us safely using a prepaid service.”

The fact the team has continued to help girls flourish throughout the pandemic is her proudest business moment to date, says Hélène.

GIC aims to engage a minimum of 1,000 girls every year in an effort to help address the gender gap in the tech sector and to sustain girls’ interest in tech activities and STEM-related careers – and Covid-19 hasn’t slowed this ambition down.

“Our plan is to reintroduce girls to enrichment opportunities in the areas of coding, physical computing, robotics and 3D printing that have been severed by Covid-19 restrictions,” Hélène explains. “This will give them the tools to come back better, filling the recent gaps in their education and development. We want to reconnect them to a network and to help them benefit socially and mentally from purposeful and engaging tech activities.”

Hélène’s essential advice for other women looking to launch their own business is to never forget their purpose: “There will be many ups and downs, and what makes you rise during these down moments is when you remember why you started your business.”

She says she is “very proud” to be part of the bank and Getty Images’ Female Focus initiative, and that it is a “great honour” to be featured alongside “such an inspiring group of female leaders.

“Being part of the initiative is an excellent way to help further highlight and address two significant issues: female under-representation in STEM and waste reduction, which are both central to Girls Into Coding and Green Green Technology respectively.”

Learn more about the winners in the experimental Metaverse virtual gallery.