| Kathryn Parsons | |
| Birth Name: | Kathryn Parsons |
| Birth Place: | London, United Kingdom |
| Nationality: | British |
| Alma Mater: | Downing College, Cambridge |
| Occupation: | Co-CEO of Decoded |
| Years Active: | 2011—present |
Kathryn Parsons is a British tech entrepreneur. She is the co-founder and co-CEO of Decoded, a London-based "code and data education and digital transformation company".[1] Decoded launched in 2011 with its signature one-day course which claimed to train participants without any background in computers to "code in a day".[2] Today Decoded's Digital and Data Academies are delivered to thousands of executives and policymakers across the world.[3]
Kathryn Parsons grew up in Highgate and attended Channing School.[2] She studied Classical Studies at Downing College, Cambridge.[4] "A linguist by training, she has mastered Japanese, Latin, Ancient Greek and Mandarin. For Parsons, programming is just another language that anyone can learn."[5]
Kathryn successfully campaigned for code to be introduced to the UK national curriculum[6] making it one of the first countries in the world to do so.
She was awarded an MBE for Services to Education in the Queen’s New Year Honours.[7]
Parsons sat on the Business Advisory Boards to Number Ten Downing Street and the London Mayors.[8]
She joined the non-executive board of The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2017-2020.[9] Kathryn currently sits on the board of HM Treasury’s Rose Review into Female Entrepreneurship which seeks to address the problem that women "receive less than 1 per cent of venture capital funding".[10]
Parsons has won many awards for her contributions to technology and entrepreneurship, including the inaugural Veuve Clicquot New Generation Business Woman of the Year Award.[11]