Stories

Our goal is to place IT talented refugees & migrants into permanent jobs so that they get their independence back. Read some of our great success stories here.

  • Powercoders alumna Sodaba Hamid

    Sodaba Hamid

    From receptionist to IT prodigy: Read Sodaba's empowering transition through Powercoders. With the support of amazing coaches and mentors, she made her way in IT.

  • Abdullah Bilen

    Abdullah Bilen

    Abdullah always loved computers and technology. Working at Beldona as E-Commerce Manager he made his dream come true, by never giving up.

  • Portrait of Tsigereda Nebai, Alumna of Powercoders

    Tsigereda Nebai

    She was the only girl her age who joined the university in her village, where she studied Computer Engineering.

  • Abdul Fatah Shieryar

    He had worked in the IT sector in Afghanistan for many years and wanted to continue in the same field in Switzerland. But this was not an easy path.

  • Adnan Aljasem

    He studied petrochemical engineering before circumstances forced him to leave his home country.

  • Jamila Amini

    She was forced to flee Afghanistan with her husband and daughter and our very first participant to secure a permanent employment.

  • Portrait of Rami Jumaah, Alumnus Powercoders

    Rami Jumaah

    He is our first student who graduated with an EFZ (apprenticeship diploma).

  • Portrait of Mohammad Althan, Alumnus Powercoders

    Mohammad Altahan

    He took on a huge amount of education and training in a relatively short space of time before beginning his new role.

  • Mannar Hielal

    Originally from Aleppo, Syria, Mannar fled her war-torn country for Turkey, and then eventually Switzerland, where she would join Powercoders.

  • Portrait of Robel Debesay, Alumnus Powercoders

    Robel Debesay

    Before Robel joined UBS as an intern, he lived for five years on the road as a person from a refugee background

  • Portrait of Halit Çelik, Alumnus Powercoders

    Halit Çelik

    He was once a tour guide in Istanbul and knows a lot about history and displacement.

  • Portrait of Farid Saberi, Alumnus Powercoders

    Farid Saberi

    He speaks seven languages fluently – wait, make it eight with the coding.

  • Portrait of Nour Alayouby, Alumni Action Board member of Powercoders

    Nour

    Aged 22, Nour had to try many different paths until she found the one she wanted to stay on. That path began with her application to the Powercoders Bootcamp in autumn 2019.

  • Portrait of Delberin Ali

    Delberin Ali

    Seeing his father never give up made him the person he is today.

  • Sodaba Bashiri

    Sodaba has been fascinated by IT for as long as she can remember. As a child she had proudly owned a desktop when no one had one around her.

  • Shehani

    She started her full-time job as an SAP developer at UBS in April, directly after her internship ended.

  • Jean Cédric Ntwari

    He still has the first ticket from the trip he could take by train after he gained financial independence from social assistance.

  • Raziq Adeel

    In March 2021, Raziq started his internship at IBM. Six months later they offered him a way-up apprenticeship.

  • Parwiz Rajabi

    "I had no choice - but also nothing to lose," he says. If he wanted to live, he had to flee, but fleeing was no guarantee to live. 

  • Osman Mohammed

    He started his computer science studies back in his home country Eritrea because he had a dream: to become a Computer Scientist.

  • Husniye

    When she applied to Powercoders, she wrote in her application: “I think my greatest strength is that I can make and implement decisions quickly and work under a lot of stress."

  • Nisar Ahmed Hatami

    Nisar made it. He managed the journey to a safe country. He is a junior consultant at a company he likes. It seems like the perfect story.

  • Mohammad Al Mestarihi

    For him IT is something like home. It has accompanied him through a good part of his life, even during difficult times.

  • Izzatollah Amani

    He was forced to flee his home country Afghanistan as a 26 year-old and was able to take refuge in Switzerland.

  • Gajendran Packiyanathan

    He was a participant in our very first Powercoders Bootcamp in 2017, and one of the first ones to get a permanent job offer.

  • Deniz Tokat

    When he came to Switzerland three years ago, he first tried to find a job in Mathematics or as a teacher, but it was very difficult because of language problems.

  • Bashir Karimi

    Bashir was leading a normal life in Pakistan, having a wife and two kids and a good job as an IT teacher.

  • Ali Mengütay

    Back in Turkey he studied mechanical engineering and worked for a big company in Istanbul.

  • Ali Alshweiki

    Vevey is now his home, Evolusys his employer, and Ali sums it all up with the words “I am at the happiest time in my life right now.”

  • Abdul Rahim Alizada

    What he likes most about his work: The team, the collaboration, the transparency within the team.

  • Abdelrahman Alallaqi

    His breakthrough moment was when he was finally ready to be part of team meetings and handle his own projects.

  • Abdul Nawaz Bugti

    For Abdul, one of the proudest moments of his life was when he could finally sign off from social service and tell himself that he didn’t need that support anymore.