Safina Dahou

Who helped you get to where you are today?

I owe a lot to Coding Black Females, Black Codher and UpReach. Coding Black Females is an amazing platform for black women wanting to get into tech. I didn’t know where to start so I took every opportunity with CBF, it was then I decided I wanted to apply for a bootcamp.

They also provided me with an amazing mentor from The Guardian. It was my first mentorship and I was very nervous but we coded Python every week together, she answered my questions about working in tech and helped improve my confidence.

Since then I’ve had consistent mentorships, mentors are amazing and I recommend them to everyone no matter what stage of your career. Black Codher are a great team who provide the fully funded Front End Development bootcamp with excellent instructors, understandable course content and career check-ins.

They provided great guidance and helped me form a long-term plan. UpReach is great, I joined UpReach Tech 500 in January. They provide countless webinars on career development, personal development and technical development. They have exclusive insight days at KPMG and other big names I have attended.

My programme co-ordinator, Mimi, is great and has helped me with applications and career decisions, I was also paired with my latest mentor Lateefat who is great, we really get along and we are creating a more detailed direction for my career in tech.

What excites you about working in a tech role?

Right now I work for an NFT platform, its incredibly exciting. What’s the most exciting is the potential of the blockchain and being one of the first to observe what’s ahead.

I’m particularly interested on how blockchain can produce generational wealth for those underprivileged through real estate, this is being done in New York currently by a team called Equity Coin. Very interesting stuff. My passion is providing for the underprivileged so I’m excited to know more about blockchain.

What advice would you give to someone looking to begin a career in tech?

You may be stepping out of your comfort zone to get into tech - stay out of your comfort zone. The more you leave your comfort zone the more you will grow. Mentorships are key, find an organisation that can pair you with a mentor in tech and take advantage of the opportunity, even if you don’t know where to start in tech. There are so many people willing to give you advice and help.

Don’t be afraid of technology, for the first few months I was scared to ask the wrong questions or code in Python, it may seem overwhelming but that is normal. Finally, YouTube is amazing, not just for coding videos but there are many people out there sharing their experience on how they stayed motivated to pursue their career - whether its tech or not. Those videos were super helpful to me.

Do you feel like there is a lot of opportunity in this industry?

Yes, if you can build a network by reaching out to people you can see so many more opportunities. I feel so much freedom in the technology field to choose what I’d like to learn and relate it back to my passion, which is politics.

What do you think will be the next big trend in tech?

Selling every type of asset on the blockchain.

What educational path did you follow?

BA Economics, Politics & Public Policy at Goldsmiths and now considering a MSc in Legal Technology (Blockchain & AI)

Did role models play a part in you choosing your job / career?

Interesting question, I believe I take certain things I like about certain people. Most of the people I read are black feminist activists such as Angela Davis because I like to understand how to contribute to theory by understanding your individual experience.

There are many women in tech I’m inspired by such as Charlene Hunter. My biggest inspiration right now is the Equity Coin group, beginning to tackle structural inequality on the greatest level through technology is where I hope my career path takes me.