The first quarter of 2025 was full of energy, growth, and community wins. From launching new programs to helping members get hired, we’ve been busy doing the work that matters.
Here’s a look at what we got done together.
We welcomed five new partners 
We’re thrilled to have onboarded five new partners who now power our work and mission:
Navah Hopkins (as an individual partner)
Noah Learner / The SEO Community (our new meetup partner)
Partnerships are the lifeblood of our work. Without this kind of generosity, we simply couldn’t pay BIPOC authors, train developers, or provide mentorship to members who are working hard to break into tech and marketing.
We helped two cohort grads get paid roles 🎉
Big congratulations to Chidinma Itsukor and Unzila Siddique, all of whom secured paid roles with support from FCDC.
Training is great, but we know that paid opportunities change lives. Our ultimate goal is to put money in the hands of People of Color, and we achieve this goal every time we help a former cohort student find a paid job.
We held a Career Workshop for our UK Student Community
In March, we hosted an exclusive workshop for FCDC UK grads with Bibian Pius Urum, a Technical Developer at HSBC.
She shared her journey and gave practical advice on breaking into the tech industry.
These kinds of sessions help our members take confident, informed steps toward employment.
We’re sending 44 members to Search Africon
We are thrilled to support Search Africon by providing 44 free in-person tickets to FCDC members. 🕺🏿🕺🏿 We’re also serving as the official community partner for the event.
For context, Ebere Jonathan, who runs the event, was part of our first Tech SEO Cohort led by Aleyda Solis. It feels like a full-circle moment for us to support this event.
Chima will also be speaking at the event alongside legends like Mike King, Marco Giordano, and Emini Demiri.
We are so proud of Ebere and excited to see this come together.
We hosted a Community Meetup in Abuja, Nigeria
In February, we brought the community together in Abuja for a vibrant meetup hosted by Greatdorlin Wisdom.
Speakers like Stella Inabo, Jessica Tee O, and Ayomide Joseph delivered practical sessions on marketing, freelancing, and understanding customers.
Here’s our favorite photo from the day 👇🏾
We launched the FCDC Fullstack Developer Cohort
Many of our members are motivated and ready to grow but feel overwhelmed trying to break into tech without structure or support.
We’re launching a free, three-month backend development training program for five FCDC members this September. Colin Gray, Head of Mobile at Shopify, will lead the cohort.
We’re looking for members with at least one year of dev experience for the cohort. You’ll build real projects and gain skills to transition into full-time roles.
We’re giving the gift of bylines
After years of tracking the race gap in SEO authorship and seeing little change, we decided to act.
The FCDC Content Program is our way of providing visibility for BIPOC marketers who are too often left out of mainstream publishing.
Writers are paired with volunteer editors and paid £300 per article when their work is published.
If you want to help out, we’re looking for volunteer editors.
We launched the FCDC Tool Jam
We kicked off the FCDC Tool Jam to solve a real problem.
Freelancers in developing countries often have the skills but not the tools to build real projects or prove their abilities.
The Tool Jam solves this by giving selected freelancers access to a sponsor’s tool for one month to build and publish case studies, win cash prizes, and grow their careers.
In return, sponsors get product feedback, use cases you can publish on your blog, and meaningful brand impact.
What to Expect in Q2
A big meetup at Search Africon for 70 members in Lagos 🎉
8 new bylines for BIPOC authors through the Content Program
Hiring a content marketer (a cohort grad!) to help our tiny team of four
Finalizing members for the Dev Cohort and getting them set up for success
Bringing back the FCDC Expert Series — hands-on sessions with industry pros
Sending 5 members to BrightonSEO, including an all-expenses-paid trip from Semrush
Hopefully, we will onboard three annual partners to help us scale the content program and support our other projects
Jadesola Kareem
Passionate about content and diversity, Jadesola is a content writer. In her free time, with a cup of coffee in hand, she binges on reality shows.
