Grok Academy finds new home after disgraced CEO’s exit

Grok Academy, the coding academy formerly led by disgraced chief executive James Curran, has avoided being shut down and will undergo a cultural overhaul after being acquired by a social impact charity.

More than 200,000 students nationally went through Grok Academy’s coding classes last year, and more than 1 million students have used its learning platform to date.

James Curran, Grok Academy boss and National Computer Science School director.Credit: Matt Davidson

The non-profit was plunged into turmoil this year, however, when its boss James Curran resigned after multiple allegations of harassment were substantiated by an independent investigator.

This masthead spoke to nine women who allege Curran sent them inappropriate messages, in many instances while they were high school students, in allegations that span 10 years.

For each of the women, Curran represented a powerful, influential mentor figure who promised to help them with their careers, but then abused their trust by making sexualised comments – and in some cases, inappropriate touching – during a game he called “jungle speed”. Curran has apologised and told this masthead he was “deeply sorry” for his actions.

As the allegations came to light, as many as 80 of Grok’s 100 permanent staff were made redundant, and half of its board, chaired by former University of Technology Sydney deputy vice-chancellor Shirley Alexander, resigned.

Grok Academy was funded in part by the billionaire former chief executive of Australian software company WiseTech Global Richard White, who personally donated more than $2 million to the non-profit. White had championed Curran as a “superb educator” who was “incredibly powerful in delivering tech education”. White resigned as WiseTech chief executive in October following an aborted court case against an ex-lover and allegations published by this masthead of inappropriate conduct.

Grok had also landed partnerships with universities and large companies, including ANZ, CBA, NAB, Westpac and Amazon, some of whom withdrew their funding after the allegations against Curran were revealed.

However, Grok has been thrown a lifeline after being acquired by Adelaide-based social impact charity KIK Innovation, which runs major IT school network 42 Adelaide.

KIK Innovation CEO Louise Nobes.Credit:

KIK chief executive Louise Nobes told this masthead she first heard about Grok Academy’s issues when travelling in Britain.

“In discussions with my board, we thought we could help, given that we have an experienced female CEO and founder, charity status, and deep skills in tech education,” Nobes said.

“I reached out and the discussion soon turned to the need for a new home for the high-school tech education platform, as it was becoming obvious that Grok would have to shut down, as it would be unlikely to receive further partnerships or donations.

“Luckily, the Grok constitution had a mechanism that allowed Grok to gift the IP to another similar non-for-profit to enable the charity’s purpose to continue.”

Nobes said she would lead a cultural shift at the organisation. She said KIK made offers of employment to a “small number of previous Grok employees who have the knowledge, skills and expertise needed to ensure a successful transition of the platform to KIK”.

KIK Innovation’s most recent financial statement filed with the charity regulator showed it had nine employees as of January and had pulled in just over $2 million in revenue for the prior financial year.

“Our immediate plan is to ensure that the schools, teachers and the more than 1 million students who have used Grok Academy continue to have access to the same great platform and resources. Ensuring continuity of access is our No. 1 priority,” Nobes said.

“As a female founder and CEO, ensuring that all participants including women and girls feel safe and heard in their interactions and have access to the same opportunities is of the utmost importance to me, as is fostering a culture of trust, respect and safety within KIK.

“We are proudly a team of majority women, and with KIK being the new home of Grok Academy, a culture shift will be inevitable as it has a new home and CEO, and each of the team that has transitioned to KIK has been made familiar with our principles and their obligations to KIK and the students.”

The cultural issues at Grok Academy were related to a single person, and were not systemic, Nobes said.

“We’re proud to be the new home of the fantastic high-school tech education platform, and I am excited to see the impact we can achieve together.”

The news was welcomed by some of the young women who alleged Curran sent them inappropriate messages.

“I’m happy that the Grok platform will live on,” one whistleblower, Stephanie*, told this masthead.

Stephanie, a former Grok employee, alleged instances of inappropriate touching and messages from Curran.

According to Stephanie, over a period of months, Curran would frequently message late at night and ask questions about her sexual history and preferences, including references to masturbation.

“A lot of good people put a lot of good, hard work into making it what it is, despite the harassment and cultural issues they faced from James Curran, personally and through his leadership,” she told this masthead.

“There will be a lot of people out there who are happy that their work is living on because the impact we made isn’t something that can be taken away by what this man did.”

*Name changed to protect whistleblower’s identity.

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