Andela was created to connect brilliance with opportunity. In 2015, there was only one software developer for every five job openings in the US. Meanwhile, millions of bright young people in Africa enter the job market each year. I led the design of Andela's talent platform to equip thousands of African professionals with tech skills.
CNN called Andela "the startup that's harder to get into than Harvard". We hired brilliant people who quickly picked up coding, but struggled to communicate across cultures and timezones. So I moved to Nigeria to design and launch MONTH ONE, a team skills program that transformed the culture of the company.
MONTH ONE was a success, and a major factor in Andela being named the #1 company to work for in both Nigeria and Kenya. Our developers were better at code and collaboration, but still lacked real-world experience. So I led a team to design Andela Simulations, based on training methods used by astronauts and surgeons.
3 years in, Andelans were earning senior roles in tech. To scale, we launched the Andela Learning Community (ALC) in partnership with Google and Facebook. By 2021, the ALC had trained 100,000+ African developers. Backed by Softbank, CZI, and Generation Investment Management, Andela is now valued at over $1.5 billion.
"Michael had a massive impact on Andela's culture and growth. Total moment-to-moment commitment to people and culture. Hands down one of the best facilitators I've worked with."
Christina Sass, Founder & former COO of Andela | Advisor to the Clintons
