Karlie Kloss Coding's Supermodel: The Forbes Cover Story
Kode Klossy
Karlie Kloss is sitting in a glass-walled SoHo office holding court with five teenage girls. Over video chat with several more  they are brainstorming how to support scholars of Kode with  Klossy  once class is out. The teenagers are all graduates of Kode with Klossy summer camps  an initiative by Klossâ education nonprofit that aims to teach girls the basics of computer programming.
In her off-duty uniform of a Planned Parenthood T-shirt  black jeans and Gucci loafers  the 6'2" supermodel listens intently. One young woman wearing a white Kode with Klossy top suggests a custom app for students to communicate through. Kloss nods and encourages more ideas. Perhaps Kode with  Klossy  could upload lesson videos for scholars to look back on  or start a newsletter with events and internships. Another girl in glasses says she posts tricky coding problems on Snapchat and scholars from her camp offer solutions.
Her first taste came in 2014  when she signed up for a two-week boot camp at adult-education company the Flatiron School in Manhattan to learn the basics of computer programming. "I didn't actually know who she was " says Avi Flombaum  cofounder of the Flatiron School  who taught  Kloss â class. "She was the best student in that group and I was surprised by how enthusiastic she was."
 Kloss  covered the basics of Ruby on Rails  a popular web development framework. But she quickly noticed that her classes werenât gender equal  an imbalance that mirrored the tech workforce. "I was curious  why are there not more women in this space?" recalls  Kloss . An idea for how to help took form: "I realized  here I am with this platform and reach to young women across the country and around the world  " Kloss  explains. "If I could just help a handful of girls that would be really meaningful."
In 2015   Kloss  spent more than $20 000 to personally underwrite 21 scholarships for teenage girls to the Flatiron Schoolâs two week pre-college coding class--the very class  she  had taken the year prior (Flatiron School matched the donation).
But  she  was itching to do more. Last summer   Kloss  took the initiative in-house  launching  her  own two-week summer camp for teenage girls aged 13 to 18 in New York  Los Angeles and  her  hometown of St. Louis.  Kloss  helped pick candidates  design the curriculum and select teachers;  its  graduates have gone on to win hackathons and land places at Ivy League universities. In June  the program expanded to 12 cities across the U.S.  with plans to grow further.
Adults are also included:  Last July Kloss  launched a year-long online scholarship with the Flatiron School that selected one woman every month to enroll in its full stack web development course. And whhile other nonprofits with similar missions  such as Girls Who Code and Black Girls Code  are far more established   Kloss'  reach brings  her  objective to millions.
To date  funding for Kode with  Klossy  programs has come from  Kloss   herself  and the brands  she  poses for. According to a familiar source   Kloss  has personally contributed into seven figures to Kode With  Klossy  since 2015.  She  has also redirected a slice of  her  modeling contracts with companies such as Adidas  Swarovski and Express to fund and support Kode with  Klossy . Ford's STEAM Experienceâan initiative focused on science  technology  engineering and mathematics disciplines as well as the arts  part of the car maker's philanthropic armâlent additional support to this summerâs camps.
"There are so many young women who really could change the world with this kind of opportunity  girls who self-select out because they don't see others in the industry that look like them " says  Kloss .
The daughter of an emergency room physician   Kloss'  favorite subjects as a child were math and science. Had she not been discovered at a charity fashion show in a mall  aged 13  she might have become a doctor or a teacher  she says. Instead  she booked her first advertisement in 2007; that same year she landed her first major runway show  walking for Calvin Klein.
Her career quickly took off  but it went into overdrive with the advent of Instagram. Thanks to social media  says  Kloss   "I could be seen as well as heard." As her followers swelled  her fees increased. She premiered on Forbesâ highest-paid models list in 2014 banking $4 million pretax; this year  her contract earnings soared to $9 million in the 12 months prior to June 2017.
All of it serves to raise awareness for  Kode  with  Klossy . As she focuses on the nonprofit  she has pared down her modeling contracts to the most lucrative partnerships. Today  says Kloss  she works with "partners that really are excited to work with me because of not just what I look like  but because of what I stand for." It makes sense that her bookings have shifted from conventional beauty and fashion to tech; she can be seen in recent advertisements for electronics giant Samsung and website builder Wix.
For now  the aim is to grow quickly and cost-effectively. "I've been thinking about  Kode  with  Klossy  like a startup " says Kloss. The nonprofit's team is lean  with Kloss  her manager and business partner Penni Thow  five full-time employees and consultants plus help from three members of her management.
Karlie Kloss is sitting in a glass-walled SoHo office holding court with five teenage girls. Over video chat with several more  they are brainstorming how to support scholars of  [TGT]  with  Klossy  once class is out. The teenagers are all graduates of  [TGT]  with Klossy summer camps  an initiative by Klossâ education nonprofit that aims to teach girls the basics of computer programming.
In her off-duty uniform of a Planned Parenthood T-shirt  black jeans and Gucci loafers  the 6'2" supermodel listens intently. One young woman wearing a white Kode with Klossy top suggests a custom app for students to communicate through. Kloss nods and encourages more ideas. Perhaps Kode with  Klossy  could upload lesson videos for scholars to look back on  or start a newsletter with events and internships. Another girl in glasses says she posts tricky coding problems on Snapchat and scholars from her camp offer solutions.
Her first taste came in 2014  when she signed up for a two-week boot camp at adult-education company the Flatiron School in Manhattan to learn the basics of computer programming. "I didn't actually know who she was " says Avi Flombaum  cofounder of the Flatiron School  who taught  Kloss â class. "She was the best student in that group and I was surprised by how enthusiastic she was."
 Kloss  covered the basics of Ruby on Rails  a popular web development framework. But she quickly noticed that her classes werenât gender equal  an imbalance that mirrored the tech workforce. "I was curious  why are there not more women in this space?" recalls  Kloss . An idea for how to help took form: "I realized  here I am with this platform and reach to young women across the country and around the world  " Kloss  explains. "If I could just help a handful of girls that would be really meaningful."
In 2015   Kloss  spent more than $20 000 to personally underwrite 21 scholarships for teenage girls to the Flatiron Schoolâs two week pre-college coding class--the very class  she  had taken the year prior (Flatiron School matched the donation).
But  she  was itching to do more. Last summer   Kloss  took the initiative in-house  launching  her  own two-week summer camp for teenage girls aged 13 to 18 in New York  Los Angeles and  her  hometown of St. Louis.  Kloss  helped pick candidates  design the curriculum and select teachers;  its  graduates have gone on to win hackathons and land places at Ivy League universities. In June  the program expanded to 12 cities across the U.S.  with plans to grow further.
Adults are also included:  Last July Kloss  launched a year-long online scholarship with the Flatiron School that selected one woman every month to enroll in its full stack web development course. And whhile other nonprofits with similar missions  such as Girls Who Code and Black Girls Code  are far more established   Kloss'  reach brings  her  objective to millions.
To date  funding for  [TGT]  with  Klossy  programs has come from  Kloss   herself  and the brands  she  poses for. According to a familiar source   Kloss  has personally contributed into seven figures to  [TGT]  With  Klossy  since 2015.  She  has also redirected a slice of  her  modeling contracts with companies such as Adidas  Swarovski and Express to fund and support Kode with  Klossy . Ford's STEAM Experienceâan initiative focused on science  technology  engineering and mathematics disciplines as well as the arts  part of the car maker's philanthropic armâlent additional support to this summerâs camps.
"There are so many young women who really could change the world with this kind of opportunity  girls who self-select out because they don't see others in the industry that look like them " says  Kloss .
The daughter of an emergency room physician   Kloss'  favorite subjects as a child were math and science. Had she not been discovered at a charity fashion show in a mall  aged 13  she might have become a doctor or a teacher  she says. Instead  she booked her first advertisement in 2007; that same year she landed her first major runway show  walking for Calvin Klein.
Her career quickly took off  but it went into overdrive with the advent of Instagram. Thanks to social media  says  Kloss   "I could be seen as well as heard." As her followers swelled  her fees increased. She premiered on Forbesâ highest-paid models list in 2014 banking $4 million pretax; this year  her contract earnings soared to $9 million in the 12 months prior to June 2017.
All of it serves to raise awareness for  Kode  with  Klossy . As she focuses on the nonprofit  she has pared down her modeling contracts to the most lucrative partnerships. Today  says Kloss  she works with "partners that really are excited to work with me because of not just what I look like  but because of what I stand for." It makes sense that her bookings have shifted from conventional beauty and fashion to tech; she can be seen in recent advertisements for electronics giant Samsung and website builder Wix.
For now  the aim is to grow quickly and cost-effectively. "I've been thinking about  Kode  with  Klossy  like a startup " says Kloss. The nonprofit's team is lean  with Kloss  her manager and business partner Penni Thow  five full-time employees and consultants plus help from three members of her management.