UN Ambassador Kat Graham visits Refcode

Nov. 8, 2021

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Kat Graham, known for her role in The Vampire Diaries, joined a Refcode meetup to get to know the Refcode community and see refugees learning how to code.

Kat Graham's Instagram post about her visit.

Graham led a discussion about the value of coding and we had a robost conversation with input from volunteers and participants. Sintayehu, a Refcode graduate, even taught Kat a quick lesson on how to build a website and helped Graham to write her first HTML code!

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The UN even sent a video crew to record the event, which contributed to a feeling of excitement at the meetup. However, many of the Refcode participants expressed that they were even more excited to get together, since this was the first in-person Refcode meetup since the beginning of COVID.

"I'm so glad to be able to see my friends in-person today! It feels like it has been so long." said Mustafa. When asked if he was excited about seeing a celebrity as well he replied "Yes, of course it is special to meet someone famous. I mainly came to reconnect with the community though."

Later, Graham posted about it on her Twitter and Instagram profiles, saying

Clarkston non-profit Refcode where I took a crash course on the basics of coding and heard firsthand how Refcode is opening doors for the refugee and immigrant community. On this #NationalSTEMDay, meet the community of refugees who are learning how to code together. At #Refcode, students study computer literacy, programming and #coding. More importantly, this program introduces them to #STEM careers like software engineering.

She also said of Refcode:

At #Refcode, refugee students in Clarkston are not just learning how to code, they are building connections for a brighter future. Join me in learning more about how #Refcode is opening doors for the refugee community.

Kat Graham's tweet about her visit.

If you're interested in visiting Refcode, please reach out on our media inquires page.