Criteo vision is to build best in class technology solution, a platform for the open internet, offering free and unlimited access to information to everyone. Our goal is to offer equal opportunities to everyone, no matter where they are in the world. Our teams all are committed to our vision and are participating in any possible way to achieve it.
Our vision of equal opportunities is not limited to the open internet, but also to create positive measures and actions that support gender parity and social inclusion globally and locally.
In France, our home base, Criteo is committed to help grow and nurture the future of #FrenchTech. Since 2017, we have been working with Fondation CGenial to promote and raise awareness among young people regarding the STEM disciplines and careers, to make them familiar with all coding aspects, as well as to advocate social and gender diversity in tech.
Part of our commitment to Fondation CGenial is to provide support for various initiatives, one of them being ‘Yes We Code!’, a program dedicated to 10 – 17 years old students, who work on a computing project based on connected kits they have received at the beginning of the year.
On May 15th , we hosted the ‘Yes We Code!’ award ceremony and welcomed 40 middle and high school students and teachers from Hélène Boucher High School (Paris – 75), Parc de Vilégnis High School (Massy – 91), Paul Dupuy College (Fontenay – 94), as well as Fondation CGenial and its various partners.
We started the day with an opening speech by our CTO, Dan Teodosiu, who emphasized the primordial role and position that the French companies have in promoting diversity and inspiring young people, especially girls, to choose a career path in tech.
We followed with the award ceremony, during which the students presented their computing projects, shared with us how they reached their goals and overcame the obstacles. We saw projects like the dancing steps counter, an alarm system for the lockers, a digital compass, etc. They “surprised us with their creativity, the way they used the kits and the accessories’ “(Alexandra Hayere – Senior Manager Internal Communications, Criteo).
All the projects were great and the students did an amazing job. We had a very hard time choosing a winner. After careful consideration, the Hélène Boucher High School students won the Ile de France prize.
The day would not have been complete without giving the students the opportunity to learn and exchange with Criteo volunteer engineers. We offered various workshops and roundtable options where they could practice coding in a fun and interactive way, ask any questions they may have and just spend a great time with our engineers.
For this edition of Yes We code!, we wanted to share the passion we have for tech not only with the students but also with their teachers. We offered them a Python workshop, so they can be better equipped for future projects.
Overall, the day was a success, especially when student’s parents tell us that thanks to this day their child “found their vocation”😊
