Cody Gordon
Cody Gordon schooled at the University of Witwatersrand, 2019, attained a BA (Organisation Psychology and International Relations) certificate at the University of Witwatersrand, 2020, PDM
When Cody was in his matric year, just before his final exams, his father very suddenly passed away from lung cancer. After a week of his diagnosis, Cody had to say goodbye to his best friend and mentor. This event shook his world and changed his life forever.
As a couple of years passed on, Cody was struggling internally with his own mental health and trauma that he had experienced. In 2 years, this would prove to be a trend with the introduction of Covid and mental health struggles being experienced in the masses in schools and businesses. Cody needed to find a way to heal himself, to be a better version of who he was. This led him to co-found CG Technology Group (Pty) Ltd (CGTG) at the end of 2018. CG Technology Group has developed 2 enterprise software applications, It’sOk, which focuses on mental health and well-being in schools, and Be Frank, which focuses on team effectiveness and well-being in organizations. Cody’s business came into existence from his greatest adversity, from his trauma, from his desire to be better.
It’sOk has been rapidly adopted by schools across South Africa and making an impact at scale, directly targeting the mental health pandemic being experienced in South Africa.
– Made the Forbes Africa 30 under 30 list for 2023 in the mental health technology category
– Founder of CG Technology Group (Pty) Ltd (It’sOk and Be Frank)
– It’sOk has been adopted by top schools around South Africa and positively impacting the lives of countless young individuals in South Africa
– It’sOk has a feature that allows schools to pick up at risk students. It’sOk has picked up 100’s of these cases and have potentially saved 100’s of African lives.
– It’sOk has helped schools across the country be truly proactive in student wellbeing with 10’s of thousands of emotions being entered into the app
– Be Frank is currently assisting organisations in South Africa manage employee burnout
As part of our social impact, It’sOk has provided its technology at no cost to The Tomorrow Trust, an NGO that assists 500+ orphaned and vulnerable students, who live in very difficult and compromised circumstances across South Africa. From the high volume of It’sOk usage and the clarity of feedback, The Tomorrow Trust has been able to prioritize wellbeing as a core component of the help they give to their students. These students have benefitted mentally and emotionally, and are excelling academically (please see feedback from The Tomorrow Trust in the appendix). Social impact is embedded in the very nature of the product and is so foundational to the product it is the core genetic make-up of our business. Every time a student clicks on our app, we are instilling positive emotional habits into each child.
Being the most mentally unhealthy continent in the world (Africa has the world’s highest rate of deaths by suicide, according to the World Health Organization.), makes the future of Africa vulnerable. Starting with an individual child’s mental health can change the world. The reason this is true is because no matter who we are, if our mind is not a happy place to exist, if we are not peaceful inside and to ourselves, we cannot provide this to others. If we are fulfilled inside and experience inner peace, our daily interactions promote this way of being and we then have a chance of healing Africa and the word.
CEO of Tomorrow Trust
“Tomorrow Trust Acknowledges and understands the ongoing injustices in education that our learners and students face and enabling them to successfully navigate their academic journey. Tomorrow Trust provides support and access to holistic learning to orphaned and vulnerable children and youth. The Tomorrow Trust has various holistic educational programmes that offer academic, career, digital and psycho-social support to orphaned and vulnerable children and youth, throughout their academic journey, from playground to professional, using a Holistic framework for development. Tomorrow Trust partners with likeminded individuals and is a proud partner of It’sOk. Tomorrow Trust has worked closely with It’sOk over the last 3 years. Cody Gordon has provided our organisation not only a much needed social emotional tool but bridged the gap of access to learners who would not be able to afford such a tool. To date It’sOk assists over 500 Grade 8 – 12 learners from various areas in and around Johannesburg. This app has helped our learners understand their emotional wellbeing and reach out for help when feeling like there is no one to assist. Cody has demonstrated a philanthropist approach towards making this app available to less Fortunate.” The development that Cody has seen in himself since starting his business has been incredible. He is a self-starter, reading 2 books a week and waking up at 5:00 am every day to meditate, go to the gym, and read. This extreme discipline and focus on improving who he is in every dimension of his life have led him to be able to execute at the levels that he needs to. This daily routine allows him to stay physically and mentally healthy.
Seeing the impact his technology has had on student and employee well-being has been absolutely incredible. Covid has produced some of the most trying times on the minds of everyone, and for Cody’s company to offer a platform to assist and make a real impact in these times of need has been more than interesting to him—it’s been the very reason why they started the company, to make the world mentally healthier.