Connect market to untapped workforce via tech training

We are empowering young people by providing them with a highly sought-after skillset. We do this with a Bootcamp-Lab-Career pathway that entails training for actual, hirable technical skills (Bootcamp), then providing hands-on learning to build expertise (Lab), and finally matching to jobs (Career).

Industries across the city of Boston are experiencing a crisis in skills gap, struggling to find talent. Boston’s youth are struggling to find work. Most schools and organizations are not teaching the skills that are actually in demand.

Resilient Coders is spreading code literacy to young people (ages 18-26) from traditionally underserved communities. Resilient Coders teaches youth how to code, hires them back to build websites for paying clients, then connects them to internships or jobs with area companies.

We are hacking the opportunity gap in a way that has global potential.

Note: Video password is b.resilient.

We see that: The technology sector has a need for talent; Youth need career opportunities; There is an opportunity to connect youth to careers in the technology sector.

800+ entry level web development positions are estimated to be available in New England in the next year. A college degree won’t be necessary for employees to effectively perform most of the job requirements. Concurrently there are thousands of people routinely dismissed from job consideration because they lack a 4-year college credential. The equation doesn’t work. Why outsource web development services across the globe when we can outsource to our own communities?

The goal of the Bootcamp-to-Career pathway is to connect high-risk, high potential youth with lucrative technology careers. Resilient Coders’ goal is to prepare youth with skills that are in demand to address a serious lapse in the technology hiring pipeline. There are young people disconnected from the tech innovation economy, but who have the natural talents that, given some training, can launch a lucrative and meaningful career in technology. Elsewhere in the same city, the biggest technical innovation ecosystem in the East, is experiencing a drought in talent. We provide training and the connection of these two communities.

Track interest-to-commitment via each Hackathon attendance. - Run 4 Bootcamps a year reaching 80 students (20/per session)

Track ability of Bootcamp grad for Lab capability. - Hire 50%+ back into Lab for continued learning and skill-building.

Track placements. - Match 80%+ of Bootcamp participants into jobs or internships.

For-profit bootcamps like General Assembly and Startup Institute train adults, for a sizeable fee ($5,000-$15,000), in a variety of technical skills, then connect them to work opportunities.

The ability to pay these fees is a privilege our students don't have. We are sensitive to the needs and demands on the lives of our students and see how tech skills can place them on a trajectory to a lucrative career. Entry level is not the ultimate goal. They are being trained in skills that can put them on a pathway to becoming software engineers.

Our tech-centered solution is led by the people for which it is designed at all stages.

• The pathway begins with an 8-week Bootcamp during which youth learn both tech and soft skills. Bootcamp provides training to enable participants to build websites using HTML, CSS, Git, and Lean design principles.

• Bootcamp graduates work as contractors for the Lab (2-4 months), the organization’s web development shop, honing their skills with real clients.

• Participants are supported in their job placement into reliable career tracks. RC builds relationships with area companies in order to connect youth with jobs that can become lucrative career opportunities.

We identify our participating youth via a broad cross section of community partners including such organizations as the Boston Police Department, Boston Private Industry Council, ROCA, and the Department of Youth Services.

Most importantly, however, our alumni are now referring their friends and colleagues. Word is spreading virally.

Students must invest the time in a one-day Hackathon to display their commitment and interest in the program. We provide a stipend to students to participate, knowing that the opportunity cost of participating is high for them and that they can’t afford to invest both time and lost wages without it.

We are aggressive networkers and believe in casting a wide net to ensure we identify funding sources that best match our mission and ethos. We are extraordinarily fortunate to have financial support from a variety of sources. This spans private foundation, corporate, and government support. We have sponsorship through the Boston Police Department given our work with court-, gun-, and gang-involved youth. We have support from the tech community, via Tech Underwriting Greater Good (TUGG), Google, and Microsoft. And we have a revenue-generating business in Resilient Lab. Our goal is to build this business to be self-sufficient over the next three years.

Our students are subject to preconceived notions around their aptitudes. This is a challenge to our success. We’re combating this by:

• Building a syllabus that is stronger than for-profit Bootcamps, by adding more instruction. This ensures our students are technically as, if not more, advanced.

• Leveraging targeted press, celebrating our alumni successes.

• Maintaining active communication with hiring managers to understand their needs, and communicate our students’ skills.

• Being transparent with our employers with regard to our students’ level of expertise

• Inviting engineers from potential employer companies to join us as mentors and develop relationships with our students.

Resilient Coders employs the ‘agile’ methodology. We experiment constantly, in small batches, with specific controls and a clear and quantifiable understanding of success. We plan for controlled failures that validate or rebuke assumptions, and allow our team to learn and pivot.

We see Solve as an opportunity to have it’s experts test our assumptions and push us beyond our present model to explore growth opportunities. We presently focus on the Boston area and believe that there is opportunity for growth to other US cities and possibly internationally. The Solve community would be key in helping us evaluation this.

We have tech companies (e.g. East Coast Product, InsightSquared, Microsoft etc.) that serve as partners mentoring students, hosting Bootcamps, and advising staff. Funding partners collaborate to identify additional funding and strategies for growing Resilient Lab to best support the organization (e.g. BNY Mellon, Fish Family Foundation, Google, etc.).

General Assembly, Start Up Institute, Holberton School, Flatiron School, Launch Academy.