Despite coming from a non-technical background, Kelly has been an inspirational figure in CodeBase Stirling’s digital skills workshops for young people.
Kelly undertook a Doctor of Philosophy in English Literature at the University of Stirling, focusing on the emergence and development of sentience in post-human zombie gothic, and once graduated shifted her research towards transhumanism and technological body modifications, birthing an unrestrained enthusiasm for technology.
Kelly is evangelical about teaching kids the importance of digital skills and plays a vital role in CodeBase’s Level:Up programme of digital skills, which includes Prewired, Digital Skills 4 Girls, Bring Your Own Grown Up and Schools Outreach programme. She has also spoken extensively at schools, encouraging students to consider careers in the tech and digital sector and has been an invited speaker at higher education career events to discuss her transition from academia to technology.
A self-taught ‘techie’ has taken the lead with Prewired, CodeBase Stirling’s fortnightly coding club and has personally introduced kids to robotics, micro:bits and electronic circuitry.
She spends most of her spare time learning new skills to pass onto the young attendees. Kelly is also a key figure in CodeBase Stirling’s monthly Digital Skills 4 Girls sessions, leading many of the workshops – from Design Your Own Arcade Machine to Conductive circuits.
She has also joined the Board of Prewired, further helping to encourage and support young people’s coding skills.
In 2019 Kelly was a Technology Champion in Education finalist for the Scotland Women in Technology Awards and she has recently been shortlisted for the Unsung Hero Award at the Scottish Digital Technology Awards 2020.
