Former Code the Dream Student Daisy Magnus-Aryitey Now Leads the Organization

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“Tech Difference Maker of the Year” Daisy Magnus-Aryitey paves the way for the next generation of coders

Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Code the Dream, Daisy Magnus-Aryitey
Daisy walks past this mural by Sean Kernick every day she goes into work – it’s just outside of her office at American Underground @Main.

By Emily Davis | Photography by John Michael Simpson

Daisy Magnus-Aryitey‘s career is a testament to the power of Code the Dream. She was an early student of the Durham-based nonprofit – a pilot project of the nonprofit Uniting NC at the time – which offers free software development training to people from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. The intensive nine-month training led to her first tech job as a front-end engineer at Duke University’s Office of Information Technology in 2015. Daisy remained on CTD’s board and eventually returned as its director of partnerships.

“I really wanted to give back to the organization that had given so much to me,” she says. In 2020, she joined Dan Rearick as CTD’s co-founder and co-executive director to transform the organization into the stand-alone nonprofit it is today.

“We were thrilled when she came back to lead Code the Dream because not only was she brilliant, but she also knew firsthand many of the challenges our students face,” Dan says.

Daisy Magnus-Aryitey posing in Durham

Daisy’s journey into the tech world was not a linear one. Her family moved to the United States from Accra, Ghana, when she was 4 and, coming from an immigrant background, she says, “there’s very narrowly defined paths to success,” like through learning medicine or law. In her 20s, Daisy put her law degree on hold to help raise her young family. She sought to reenter the workforce in her 30s, but her resume gap proved a major barrier, and traditional continued education was not financially feasible.

Then, one line at the bottom of an email chain changed everything. It advertised CTD’s pilot coding classes for young people from immigrant backgrounds. At 32, Daisy wasn’t sure if she qualified, but she emailed anyway. Daisy recalls asking the organization to give her a chance and promising to give it her all. She was swiftly enrolled.

She was surprised by how much she enjoyed coding. Learning occurred through hands-on experimentation and collaboration with classmates rather than through rote memorization.

“It felt welcoming and friendly, without the burden of having to be the best or having to get the top grade to succeed,” she says. “We all rise together.”

Daisy says CTD sets itself apart with its dedicated and diverse staff as well as its unique apprenticeship program, Code the Dream Labs, which offers graduates the opportunity to apply for a full- time, paid job working on real-world web and mobile development projects that support nonprofit and small businesses that mirror CTD’s own mission to promote equity and digital access.

Daisy Magnus-Aryitey posing in front of mural

“The work that we do is important, and I think our apprentice developers feel the weight of that importance,” Daisy says. “When they’re building tools to connect migrant farmworkers to resources or tools to support children who are struggling to read, there’s a significance to that.”

Daisy’s commitment to equity in tech and education led her to earn her master’s in educational innovation, technology and entrepreneurship from UNC’s School of Education in 2020. She is also a volunteer on the technical education committee at the Emily K Center and serves on the board of Justice Matters.

Despite her many commitments, Daisy still finds time for her family and for herself. She and her husband, Dan Howarth, love to attend their 11-year-old son Luke Howarth’s basketball games and 15-year- old daughter Lena Howarth’s high school band performances. If she gets a little bit of free time, Daisy likes to unwind in the aisles of Mode Consignment Boutique or the Durham Rescue Mission Thrift Store.

Although her 20-something self would be surprised by her life now, Daisy knows that she would also feel proud. She still remembers the joy of landing her first job after completing CTD.

“I could tell people, “I work at Duke, I’m a software developer,’” she says. “You just carry yourself differently. It impacted my life, it impacted my children’s lives. It was like suddenly a different path opened for me and my family.”

Daisy was named “Tech Difference Maker of the Year” at last year’s NC TECH Awards and continues to devote herself to ensuring others can find the same personal fulfillment and access to opportunities she gained through CTD.

“When a student tells me they got a job, I’m so happy for them because I know that this is just the start,” she says. “So many doors are going to open to them that were closed before.That is always my ‘worth it’ moment. That is what we’re always working toward.”

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