Code for Good

Code for Good (CFG) is JP Morgan’s flagship recruitment event for their Software Engineering Programme (SEP), which I am also a part of. SEP is the firm’s graduate programme for university students; it lasts for 2 years, and provides you an accelerated pathway from Analyst to Associate.

I have been involved in Code for Good every year since I joined the firm; as a volunteer in 2019, and as a Subject Matter Expert for Python in 2020 and 2021.

The Idea

• University students form teams of 5-6 and are partnered with an NGO.
• Over 48 hours, they need to design and come up with a working tech solution.
• As an SME in Python, I help students with their tech questions on Flask, Django.
  • I occasionally help out with Docker/K8s questions too.
• Usually, the same NGOs come back for FFG.

My Experience

I have always enjoyed being a participant of hackathons, since my university days (where I would sign up for multiple hackathons, eat a lot of junk food, drink lots of coffee, and never win, haha!).

However, I always observed a lack of women (especially WoC); teams (and my teammates) were almost always overwhelmingly male, CS students who sort of had their pre-formed cliques and ideas. This wasn’t restricted to Singapore, either; at the University of Michigan, I signed up for MHacks in 2017 only to be disappointed by the few number of women participants. This gender disparity is obviously a prevalent problem in STEM fields (especially CS).

It became even more imperative for me to participate and encourage my friends to join me; as a WOC in such hackathons, seeing other women participants and mentors would have made me feel so much better. That was when I promised myself that I would do everything possible in my capacity to increase outreach for women in STEM; besides, participating in hackathons is so much fun, especially when you’re on the other side, mentoring & judging 😉

This also led me to volunteer for SheHacks Singapore in 2020!