Aline Gomes

Brazilian social entrepreneur empowering marginalized youth through digital education

Aline Gomes is a Brazilian social entrepreneur who has pioneered digital inclusion initiatives for underprivileged youth in São Paulo's favelas. As founder of Code.N, she developed a training program that has equipped over 10,000 young people with coding skills since 2015. The organization's innovative model combines technical training with mentorship and job placement support, achieving 85% employment rates for graduates in tech roles. Gomes' approach addresses Brazil's digital divide and youth unemployment challenges, with particular focus on serving Afro-Brazilian and LGBTQ+ communities. Her work has been supported by tech giants like Google and Microsoft through partnerships providing curriculum resources and internship opportunities. A former software engineer herself, Gomes transitioned to social entrepreneurship after observing the lack of access to tech education in low-income neighborhoods. Code.N's methodology has been replicated in 12 Latin American countries through strategic alliances, including a partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank. Gomes was named one of MIT's Innovators Under 35 in 2019 and received Brazil's National Prize for Social Inclusion in 2020. She currently advocates for public policy changes to expand digital education access through her role at the Brazilian Digital Inclusion Forum. Her TEDx talk "Coding the Future" highlights how tech education can break cycles of poverty.