Francesca Stocco

Part of the Tech Women Celebration 50 – a curated list of some of the most inspirational women working at all levels of tech

Francesca began her career as a CRM Manager at a leading B2B exhibitions company. While not directly involved in software development, she discovered her passion for working on software projects alongside Developers and running sprints. This interest led her to explore coding during the pandemic, eventually joining TechSwitch's career switch programme.

Not only has Francesca successfully made a career change from CRM Manager to Software Developer, but she has also become a valuable trainer and mentor for aspiring developers. She comments:

“One of my proudest achievements has been delivering technical training at TechSwitch, just 18 months after completing the bootcamp myself. TechSwitch is a free 3-month full-stack software development bootcamp targeting career switchers, returners and minority groups in the industry. One of my goals was to remind learners that they don't need to know everything. Instead, I emphasised the importance of knowing how to use the tools and resources available to them, being curious and feeling empowered. This approach helped ease the pressure and fostered a growth mindset among the learners.

“The real highlight for me was witnessing the remarkable progress of a group of 10 individuals, most of whom had little to no coding experience when they started. Over the course of the programme, I saw them evolve from novices into confident developers; watching them present their work after completing a 3-month, full-stack project made me very proud. The transformation was incredible and knowing that they were heading into the working world as developers, equipped with the skills they needed, was deeply fulfilling.”

Francesca's journey into tech serves as a beacon of hope and motivation for aspiring female technologists and exemplifies the positive impact one can have on the IT industry and beyond.