Forest Key

Forest Key joined Code.org in early 2024 to lead International Partnerships. Previously, he was a founder / CEO of various startups that built software for hotel operations and marketing, virtual reality video infrastructure, cinema and television visual effects, and business communication and collaboration. As the business development GM for Silverlight in Asia he partnered with large consumer and government initiatives that led to 100s of millions of engagements with consumers in Japan, Korea, India, and China. Earlier with Microsoft he was the product management lead for various developer and designer coding and app development products including ASP.NET, Expression, IIS, WPF, and Silverlight. He has worked on many early emerging technologies in interactive media and digital video: as the product manager of Macromedia Flash, as a VFX artist at Lucasfilm, and as a product designer of tools used on 100s of major feature films including Star Wars, Gladiator, and the Matrix.

Like many called to the mission of Code.org, Forest was lucky to have outstanding teachers and mentors who introduced him to computational thinking throughout his K-12 journey. He grew up in Chile where a math teacher in a rural public school helped him learn his first coding skills by modifying a sample app written in BASIC for the Apple II. He is a graduate of Palo Alto High School where he was privileged to have access to the AP Computer Science curriculum, and where the notion of the coming innovations in computers + media that have informed his entire professional and intellectual adult life, were introduced to him by his dedicated and visionary journalism teacher. Forest hasn't taken a STEM class since high-school (he studied History at UCLA)--his K-12 computer science education has served him well, and he hopes to pass that spark forward to millions of kids on their own journeys.