Nonprofit bootcamps want to make coding accessible to low-income learners — from edsurge.com by Sydney Johnson
Excerpt:
She’s designing the program for folks who wouldn’t typically make it in the coding school she graduated from. “We only find our students through [coding] workshops we put on with other community organizations,” she says. “I didn’t want to do an open application because I feel like it would be the same people who already have connections and privilege.”
The program, which launched earlier this year, doesn’t require any background in tech from its applicants. It’s longer than most for-profit coding programs—six months, rather than the three or four common in the industry. Also unlike most bootcamp providers, Glauser is creating a business model where companies sponsor a student (to the tune of around $15,000), which covers both instructor costs and living stipends for students. Advocates also receive diversity training for their companies, and provide a mentor to the students in the program. Around the fifth month of the program, Glauser says the plan will be for mentors to get to know the students and recruit at least one for their company.