This year, the CNN Heroes award which was created to celebrate people who are making impact in their communities with charity work, chose Abisoye Ajayi Akinfolarin as one of the top 10 heroes for teaching young less privileged girls how to code.

She was the only black woman to make it to the finals. Her award gives international publicity to her foundation (Pearls Africa Foundation) and also comes with a $10,000 cash prize.

Abisoye Ajayi’s foundation hosts Girls Coding, a free programme that teaches underprivileged girls how to code. The initiative has empowered almost 400 girls since it was launched in 2012. Abisoye is also passionate about seeing more Nigerian women employed in professional, managerial and tech jobs.

As she accepted her award,  Abisoye called on everyone to join the fight to educate more girls so the world can see the precious gift they have to share.