Christelle’s Bio
Christelle founded Codi during her Master’s in City Planning at UC Berkeley in 2018. She was also a fellow at the Ellen MacArthur foundation, specialized on the circular economy. Christelle applies her skills as a city planner and entrepreneur to provide an economically and socially beneficial work-from-home alternative. It earned her to be selected by the City of Berkeley as one of the top 3 innovators at the Visionary Lab in 2018, and to win the first prize at “Big Ideas”, a social innovation contest across the University of California system that same year. Her mission goes far beyond just providing space -- Codi is a way to revitalize residential neighborhoods by developing strong circular economies.
Christelle assembled a first-class team from leading tech companies, and raised funding from several well-known VCs. Amidst a global pandemic, Codi has continued to serve thousands of remote workers, have half a thousand hosts nationwide, and now directly works with companies to support their shift to remote work.
Christelle’s work with Codi has been recognized by Fast Company in “World Changing Idea 2019”, Forbes, the San Francisco Business Times, and the State of Remote 2020 by Buffer and AngelList. She was recently invited as a speaker in the GENTRY Women in Tech Conference 2020. Christelle also holds a Master of Science in Environmental Science from Ecole polytechnique, France, and briefly served in the French military. She remains engaged with the scientific and city planning community, as a member of SPUR, the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association.
WITH GROUPS CREATING PROGRAMS TO ENCOURAGE FEMALES TO CONSIDER STEM, WHAT IS THE BIGGEST BARRIER TO ENTRY THAT IS STILL PREVALENT TODAY?
I believe that young girls don’t get enough exposure to female scientists and leaders during their school years. Almost all role models are males. All the mathematical theorems that we learn at school have the name of a male scientist. I can think of only one exception - the French Polish physicist Marie Curie - and one of her Nobel Prizes was won jointly with her husband... Even in biology, which is the STEM field where women are the most represented, important inventions and discoveries are almost entirely attributed to males. Role models have a key influence on the career path we choose as a teenager. A teenage girl unfortunately doesn’t see enough female role models to self-identify and gain confidence to pursue a STEM career. I believe that school programs should start to better represent female scientists and leaders - it would lead to many more females aspiring to STEM careers.
WHAT OR WHO INSPIRES YOU?
I draw inspiration from our collective power to make change. I trust our ability to transform how we perceive and do things, which can ultimately make the world a better place, and that’s a powerful driver in my everyday life. I get inspired by people who challenge the status quo, and demonstrate that there’s a better way. It’s always about simplicity. It’s often about sharing.
WHAT IS YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT/ACCOMPLISHMENT?
I feel proud, rewarded, and grateful, when our members, hosts, and partners share how meaningful Codi is to them. When we doubled the revenue of a single mother who was struggling to afford her home. When a member was going crazy working from home and shared how Codi helped him regain motivation and a work-life balance.