Skip to content

About

Who we are

Inspire every child to create their best digital future

The Micro:bit Educational Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that aims to inspire every child to create their best digital future.

We do this by:

  • developing hardware and software that inspires young people to get excited about technology and the opportunities it presents for them
  • creating free, user-friendly educational resources to support teachers in delivering engaging and creative lessons
  • working with like-minded partners to deliver high-impact educational programmes across the globe.
Four children wearing micro:bit step counters and activity monitors

Theory of Change

We believe that an ability to understand, participate and work in the digital world is vitally important to a young person’s life chances.

The BBC micro:bit is designed to excite and appeal to a broad range of young people including those who might have thought tech was not for them.

By inspiring more young people to learn digital skills, we aim to diversify the students who choose STEM subjects as they progress through school and into their careers. This, in turn, grows a diverse pipeline of talent, boosting social equity and contributing to the creation of better technology.

You can view or download our Theory of Change using the buttons below

Our values

Our values inform everything we do. They enable us, as a small organisation, to increase our impact through global partnerships that are tailored to the needs of specific users:

Trust

Trust

Partnership

Partnership

Simplicity

Simplicity

Passion

Passion

Our story

The micro:bit was originally created as part of the BBC’s Make It Digital initiative, launched in 2014. 29 expert partners came on board, each contributing resources and expertise.

From early 2016, up to 1 million micro:bits were distributed to Year 7 students (or equivalent, aged 11-12), non-formal education settings and libraries across the UK in a project led by BBC Education.

The Micro:bit Educational Foundation was founded in October 2016 with the aim of bringing digital inspiration to students worldwide.

You can read more about the origins of the micro:bit and milestones in our story here.

Our impact

It is estimated that 52 million young people from more than 60 countries have benefitted from learning with the micro:bit so far.

From pilot projects to national rollouts, you can read more about the impact of these initiatives here.

Our partners

Founding Partners

We are grateful for the long-standing support of our Founding Partners, who have been with us since the very early days and continue to play an integral role in our work.

Arm

BBC

British Council

IET

Lancaster University

Microsoft

Nominet

Partners

With thanks to the following organisations who have made major contributions to our work:

Infosys Foundation USA

Lenovo Foundation

Nordic Semiconductor

World's Largest Lesson

With grateful thanks also to:

  • Welsh Government / Llywodraeth Cymru

Community Partners

We work in close collaboration with Community Partners who deliver programmes focused on digital learning and creativity internationally. These include:

Global

  • Python Software Foundation

Africa

  • Africa Code Week

  • MakersPlace

Asia & Pacific

  • Centum Charitas Foundation

  • Infocomm Media Development Authority

  • MDEC

  • Smilegate Foundation

  • Tencent

  • code.org.ja

Europe

  • CCEA

  • CS Inc

  • Central South Consortium / Consortiwm Canolbarth y De

  • Computing At School (CAS)

  • DR

  • Digital Xtra Fund

  • EU Code Week / European Schoolnet

  • Education Scotland (DigiLearn Scot)

  • Hwb

  • IRIM

  • Kinia

  • Kompiuteriukų Fondas

  • Leeds Museums, Galleries and Libraries

  • Libraries NI

  • Microsoft Ireland (DreamSpace)

  • National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE)

  • Scottish Libraries Information Council (SLIC)

  • Scouts

  • Slovak Python User Group

  • Teknisk Museum

  • Ulster University

  • W5 Dreamspace

North America

  • AVID

  • BootUp PD

  • Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)

  • Georgia Tech College of Computing

  • GirlStart

  • Kids Code Jeunesse

  • SBCSS Inland Empire micro:bit PLN

  • Science World

  • Silicon Valley Education Foundation

  • Virginia Tech Innovation Campus

Latin America

  • Plan Ceibal

  • Programa Inova Educação - Secretary of Education of São Paulo State

  • Scratch al Sur

  • Sesi, São Paulo

Board

Stephen Pattison

Stephen has been the Foundation's Chair since 2017, but has been involved in the micro:bit project since its early days as VP Public Affairs at Arm. Stephen's varied career has included him working as a British diplomat in the UK and overseas, Head of International Business Development for Dyson, and CEO of the International Chamber of Commerce (UK).

Dr Ambily Banerjee

Ambily is a Director in Global Regulatory Affairs for GSK and joined the Foundation board in 2021. Following her PhD in Molecular Biology, Ambily worked in academia before moving to the pharmaceutical industry in 2007. She is an active advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, and is a board member for Slough Council for Voluntary Services.

Cerys Griffiths

Cerys jointly led the original BBC micro:bit project and has been a board member since 2018. A former journalist and editor, Cerys currently works as Head of Content Production for BBC Education. She also has overall editorial responsibility for Tiny Happy People, the BBC’s early years language and communication initiative.

Michelle Richmond

Michelle is the Director of IET's Membership & Professional Development Directorate and has been a Foundation board member since 2016. Having previously worked as Chartered Engineer, Michelle was "Young Woman Engineer of the Year" in 1990 and awarded an MBE for services to engineering in 2019.

Gareth Stockdale

Gareth has been a board director since 2016 and was appointed CEO at the Micro:bit Educational Foundation in January 2018. As Head of Operations for BBC Education, Gareth was the joint project lead for the micro:bit project and led the process which culminated in the formation of the Micro:bit Educational Foundation. Prior to this, Gareth worked for Twofour, using digital media to enhance education and training.

Lisa Opie

Lisa Opie is Managing Director of Ubisoft Reflections and Ubisoft Leamington. Part of the wider Ubisoft group, with 20,000 team members working across more than 30 countries worldwide, the studios are bound by a common mission to enrich players’ lives with original and memorable gaming experiences. New to games, Lisa was previously Managing Director Production, BBC Studios. She helped lead the division into the commercial market and oversaw a raft of titles including Planet Earth 2, Doctor Who, Trying, Strictly Come Dancing, and Good Omens, among many more.

Gary Campbell

Gary is Executive Vice President of Arm’s Central Engineering team, which encompasses most of Arm’s engineering functions. He joined Arm in 1998 as a CPU designer and holds a BEng degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. His passion for excellence enables Arm to deliver a continued increase in its cadence of products, on schedule with industry-leading quality and performance. Under his leadership, Arm’s engineering teams have doubled the number of products delivered in line with the growth of Arm and its expansion into new markets.

Meet the team

Gareth Stockdale

CEO

Jonny Austin

CTPO

Magda Wood

Chief of Learning

Emma Mumford

Operations Director

Melanie Washington

Global Partnerships Director

Giles Booth

Educational Content Manager

Chloe Browitt

Head of Fundraising

Waris Candra

Head of Asia

Grace Chin

Front-end Web Developer

Rhiannon Davies

Social Media Consultant

Aimée Fagan

Head of Partnerships EMEA

Professor Joe Finney

Device Software Lead

Lorna Gibson

Producer, Educator Professional Development

Lucy Gill

Head of Product

Sara Hata

Community Lead – Japan

Katie Henry

Head of Partnerships, North America

Matt Hillsdon

Web Technology Lead

Lynn Huynh

Marketing Manager

Jo Inglis

Senior Producer

Limin Jiang

Senior Project Manager

Jo Jury

Global Programme Manager

Robert Knight

Web Developer

Rachel Lancaster

Head of Global Channels

Carlos Pereira Atencio

Software Engineer

Bisi Safo-Antwi

HR & Administrative Coordinator

Jose Scodiero

Latin America (Brazil)

Emma Smart

Translations and Donations Manager

Anna Smirnova

Education Production Assistant

Roz Sutton

Data Insights and Strategy Support Consultant

Caroline Vaan-Canning

Support Desk Manager

John Vidler

Research Associate, Embedded software engineer

Bláthnaid Walsh-Heron

Assistant Producer

Kori Williamson

Project Coordinator

Work for us

We are a small but ambitious team who are passionate about education and the part technology can play in children's learning.

We're also a global team, many of us work remotely and we collaborate online with colleagues located across many time zones. The Foundation is an incredibly busy but rewarding place to work.

Please read our Privacy policy and our Hiring policy before applying.

Current vacancies

Contact us

Support and feedback

The best way to contact us to get help using your micro:bit device is by searching our support site or raising a support ticket - these are answered by real human beings in our team who have a vast amount of knowledge and experience of the micro:bit.

General enquiries and press

Email us at info@microbit.org

Registered address

Please note that as an organisation with team members working remotely all over the globe, we encourage contact by email to discuss any delivery options.

Micro:bit Educational Foundation
12 New Fetter Lane
London, EC4A 1JP
United Kingdom