The Community Coding Initiative

Many people feel they have been, or will soon be, left behind by the growing importance of technology in our economy. Furthermore, job opportunities are increasingly being consolidated into coastal “tech superstar” cities like New York, Boston, Seattle, and the Bay Area, which leaves fewer meaningful jobs elsewhere. 

Inspired by the book, “Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream” by Jonathan Gruber and Simon Johnson, the Community Coding Initiative aims to increase digital proficiency and stimulate economic growth in communities outside of the typical tech cities. 

By organizing and leading low-cost coding workshops, the Community Coding Initiative will address the growing skills gap, revitalize local economies, and empower individuals to pursue meaningful careers in the digital economy.  

There’s a growing concern about the impact technology will have on business and society. Automation will displace or completely replace large amounts of workers, but it will also create a higher demand for mid and high-skill jobs, most of which will require some level of coding knowledge.

Due to the pace of technological change and rising costs of traditional education, it has become a less feasible and less effective option to gain digital skills — especially for career changers. Code.org research shows that 63,744 Computer Science students graduated in 2018, who can only fill around 12% of the 505,000+ open developer positions across the U.S. This demand is not slowing, with some estimates projecting this talent shortage will surpass 1,000,000 by 2020. 

A very viable path to better financial opportunities is unlocked through computer science knowledge. Meanwhile, access to digital education and training programs is limited, especially in smaller cities and in minority or low-income communities. A strategic effort is needed to reskill the workforce to proactively mitigate job losses, talent shortages, and ensure broader participation in the digital economy.

This program provides a low-cost, convenient, and communal option for individuals to gain in-demand coding and digital skills. We intend to initially launch a pilot program consisting of 10 cities and if successful, scale the program to more than 100 cities in the USA. From there, we plan to continue scaling this program internationally in LATAM, APAC, and EMEA countries.  

According to a 2017 report by McKinsey and Company, approximately 30 to 45 percent of the working-age population around the world is underutilized, meaning they are unemployed, inactive, or underemployed. This translates into roughly 850 million people in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Brazil, China, and India alone.

The program is intended for adults who are interested in gaining digital skills to pursue a more meaningful career in the digital economy. Due to the structure and schedule of the program, these individuals will not need to quit their job during the training period, which will alleviate cost of living concerns. If local compliance rules and regulations allow, this program will also be available to high school students 16 years or older, who are interested in learning computer programming skills.

The two-month program will start with an intensive “bootcamp” style session, where participants will learn web fundamentals (HTML, CSS, basic Javascript, Git, etc.) and introductory programming concepts over a three-day period. After that, cohorts will meet two days a week for 90-min lectures led by a trained (and paid) mentor, with an additional 20 hours of independent study each week. Participants will learn the Python programming stack, which is beginner-friendly and one of the most in-demand programming languages. 

The curriculum will be delivered via the established Coding Dojo Learning Management System. To avoid overhead and keep the cost of the program low for participants, groups will meet at predetermined locations such as public libraries, churches, coworking spaces, or other convenient and communal places. 

In each market, we aim to launch one cohort each quarter, with a minimum of five participants per cohort and a maximum of 20. The program cost will be a sliding scale to cover operational costs and mentor compensation. Depending on the enrollment for a given cohort, participants will be refunded the difference after the final enrollment count is determined. 

For example, if a Community Coding Initiative cohort in Wichita, KS will cost $3,000 to operate, each participant will pay $600 to cover the minimum of 5 participants per cohort. If 10 people enroll, each participant will pay $600 at the time of enrollment, to cover contingencies like cancellations, but will be refunded $300 as the cohort starts. This sliding scale payment structure will encourage word-of-mouth recruitment, keep costs low for participants, ensure fair compensation for the mentor, and cover all operational costs for the given cohort. 

The Community Coding Initiative aims to create self-sustaining, cyclical coding workshops in underserved communities and cities. Graduates of these programs will be better prepared to participate in the digital economy and can use their new skills to pursue meaningful careers, entrepreneurship, or other efforts that can stimulate their local economy.   

This is a proven model established by practically every coding bootcamp in the world, but nothing in this capacity exists. Large bootcamp organizations don’t open in small areas due to operational and recruiting costs. Meanwhile, small or local bootcamps typically don’t have the resources to scale properly and have much greater startup costs including creating their curriculum, licensing a LMS, etc.

This leaves millions of people who do not live in metropolitan areas very few options to gain coding and digital skills. Online and self-taught programs exist, but are less popular and less utilized as many learners prefer to have at least some in-person instruction available. Additionally, individuals who are not digitally literate would struggle to use digital resources for their sole source of instruction. 

The payment structure is also innovative as it creates a self-sustaining loop where excess tuition is refunded based on the final enrollment count. This will encourage participants to spread the word to friends, colleagues, etc. in order to lower the cost for all of the participants in a cohort. This will also reduce the amount of marketing and recruitment costs required to set up a successful and well-attended cohort.

Curriculum and LMS:
Each cohort will be given access to the proprietary Coding Dojo curriculum and LMS, which was created in 2012 and has been iterated to match the rise/fall in popularity of programming technologies every year since. The curriculum has been used to train more than 4,500 individuals from all walks of life and technical backgrounds. It can also be modified to be used in low-bandwidth areas and has been successfully deployed in these types of areas including regions in Rwanda and Kosovo. 

Content:
Python is one of the most in-demand programming languages due to its diversity, adaptability and its beginner-friendly basics. It is widely used and a sought-after language to use in web development, machine learning, data science, scientific computation, and cloud infrastructure. 

Recruitment/Operations:
Community Coding Initiative mentors will be encouraged to use Facebook or other social networking groups to manage the logistics, recruitment, and management of each cohort. We will create individual groups or pages where interested parties can ask questions, get updates on their cohort, or reach out for partnership/support opportunities. 

Nearly every aspect of our lives - whether we realize it or not - depend on computer code. As a result, coding skills are becoming a core skill requirement for many well-paying jobs in a variety of industries. 

According to a 2017 report by Burning Glass Technologies, employers are seeking applicants with computer science skills for jobs that don’t require a Computer Science degree and aren’t traditional computing jobs. In these fields, 65% of the fastest-growing and 62% of the highest-paying skills are computer science related. Additionally, half of jobs in the top income quartile (>$57,000 per year) are in occupations which commonly require coding skills from job applicants. 

Most debates over technology and the current developer talent shortage has focused on sophisticated skills, such as writing coding for leading tech companies. But, what can make a bigger impact on the middle class and middle-skill jobs is digital literacy. Things like spreadsheets, word processing, running operational programs or other everyday software are becoming increasingly crucial for the middle class worker. Without the ability to use and understand this software, a job seeker may not even get in the door. 

The Community Coding Initiative will open career paths for individuals by providing a low-cost, convenient option to gain digital skills.

Coding Dojo has trained more than 4,500 developers since 2012, but the Community Coding Initiative is a new program that will operate under the 501(c)(3) Code for Change, and is currently not serving anyone. 

For the pilot program of 10 cities, the Community Coding Initiative aims to train 800 people in its first year (10 cities x 4 cohorts/year x 20 participants/cohort). 

Within 5 years, we hope to expand to a minimum of 100 cities, which equates to opening 22-23 new groups per year, or 5-6 per quarter. The rundown of the projected number of participants/trainees is as follows:

Year 1 | 10 groups | 800 trained participants

Year 2 | 32-33 groups | 2,560-2,640 trained participants

Year 3 | 55 groups | 4,400 trained participants

Year 4 | 77-78 groups | 6,160-6,240 trained participants

Year 5 | 100 groups | 8,000 trained participants

Cumulative total = 21,920-22,080 trained participants within 5 years. 

1-year goals:

• Modify existing Coding Dojo curriculum to fit new model and timeline

• Launch pilot program in 10 cities

  • Identify and train mentors

  • Create repeatable processes for new locations

  • Get feedback from early participants, make appropriate changes

• Create volunteer or low-cost operations team to manage new locations, training, etc. 

• Create growth plan to scale the program to 100+ cities

• Gather a network of partners/stakeholders who can support in any critical areas (recruitment, mentor training, scholarships for very low-income individuals, etc.) 

5-year goals:

• Implement growth plan, use repeatable processes to scale the program to 100+ cities

• Continue to gather partners/stakeholders for long-term support of the program

• Continue to recruit additional mentors in each market to prevent mentor burnout

The main barriers we foresee are applicable to both the next year and the next five years:

• Identifying and recruiting mentors in each city

  • Mentors will be well-compensated, but cannot be involved in the program solely for the money. This position will require a special mindset that is focused on giving back to the community and helping others in-need. 

• Local recruitment and buy-in

  • To initially get off the ground in each market, we are considering various marketing options including traditional and social advertising, email marketing, and PR. These services cost money and will add to the operational costs of the program. 

• Finding free or low-cost locations for each group

  • Leasing a space or paying other rental fees would make each program much more expensive, in some cases prohibitively expensive. It will be crucial to identify locations that are both convenient for participants and low-cost enough to keep the program financially feasible for a minimum of five participants. 

• Creating processes that do not drain operational resources to keep the program cost low for participants

  • This is an initiative conceived and organized by Coding Dojo, but will be run by its non-profit organization Code for Change. Operational manpower will be limited and cannot create undue strain on Coding Dojo’s resources and revenue-driving aspects of its business. 

• Mentor Recruitment 

  • Prior to marketing and advertising the program for participants, we will run small campaigns to build an initial mentor recruitment pool. Community Coding Initiative leaders can travel to a given location to interview and train candidates. As groups mature, we hope they become a cyclical cadre, where prior participants join the mentor program and teach future cohorts.

• Local Recruitment/Marketing

  • We will need to find a local stakeholder or individual for support and to keep operational costs low. Targeted social media ads can be utilized to create an initial participant pool, then email marketing can keep interested parties informed with program information and help them enroll at a low overall cost.  

  • As successful groups graduate from the program, we expect the need for marketing and recruitment to reduce as program visibility via word-of-mouth will increase. 

• Low-Cost Locations

  • We will approach other non-profits and similar social-good organizations to secure low-cost or free locations. Many community groups already meet in public spaces or other free locations. So identifying these areas - or organizations who are willing to donate empty space - will ensure the program costs are low for participants. 

• Operational Costs

  • Creating repeatable and effective processes will keep operational strain low as there will be a blueprint or template for each new cohort launch. As groups mature and become more self-sustaining, operational drain will decrease. At the start of the program, we aim to create a coalition of stakeholders and partners to better distribute responsibilities and resources.

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Seven full-time Coding Dojo staff will assist in the launch of the Community Coding Initiative.

Our team is a seasoned group of coding bootcamp operations, marketing, and instruction executives. The combined experience of our team is advantageous and directly applicable to launching the Community Coding Initiative. We already have a blueprint for launching new campuses, which can be modified to fit the timeline and curriculum of the Community Coding 

Initiative. Initial team members are:
Richard Wang, CEO 

Chris Chung, Director of Center Development

Todd Enders, Online Lead Instructor

Donovan An, Director of West Coast Campus Operations  

Dan Oostra, Director of East Coast Campus Operations

Luke Lappala, Director of PR

Stephen Sinco, Head of Marketing

The Community Coding Initiative does not currently have any partners, but will leverage the network of Coding Dojo partners and clients including the Washington Technology Industry Association, the Department of Labor in several states, MeritAmerica, Workforce Opportunity Services, and more.

The Community Coding Initiative is intended for social good and to be a nonprofit operation. To align with our mission to spread digital literacy to as many communities as we can, we’ll be pricing this on a sliding scale to cover all costs of each cohort. Based on the estimates, the total cost of each cohort will be $4,000, but this will vary due to cost of living and mentor compensation in different cities. We will simply look to cover these costs via student tuition and will refund any extra amount to students after the final enrollment count. 

This model will ensure that all operation costs are covered while also making the program financially feasible for participants. If a cohort cannot reach the 5 participant minimum, we will wait until the next quarter to launch in a given market to ensure that enough students enroll to make the program is sustainable.

The Community Coding Initiative will operate under a modified Fee-for-Service model, where customers pay to participate in the program, but are refunded part of their payment based on the final enrollment count for the group. If a cohort cannot reach the 5 participant minimum and thus will not be financially sustainable, it will not launch until the student enrollment count is higher and can cover the costs of the program. 

The Community Coding Initiative is applying for Solve to highlight our proposed solution to the growing economic issues in communities across the world. If accepted into the program, access to the Solve network would be invaluable for helping us network and discover partnerships, funding sources, and other potential stakeholders. 

Additionally, any prize or grant money would help get the program launched by covering a portion of the marketing/recruitment and operational costs involved. Recognition from a prestigious organization like MIT Solve would also help as we approach local contacts and companies to find areas to host and market each program.

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The Community Coding Initiative is seeking local, regional, and national partners who can help facilitate various aspects of the programs. These aspects include:

• Local businesses who could help market/recruit the program or donate space for the program to operate in

• Regional/national partners who can help identify new locations and support local mentors in their area

• Regional/national partners who can help in operational capacities

• Regional/national partners to fund the expansion of the program

These partners can be organizations of any type, but we will focus on networking with other nonprofits, tech or development companies, and workforce development organizations during the initial stages of the program. 

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We feel the Community Coding Initiative is a perfect fit for the GM Community-Driven Innovation prize due to STEM education being the core focus of the program. This solution is directly intended to foster prosperity and social mobility for not just underrepresented community members, but entire underserved communities. 

If chosen, the Community Coding Initiative would use the prize as initial seed money to get the program off the ground. The funds would be used to research the first 10 pilot cities, travel to each to recruit and train mentors, initial marketing efforts for recruitment, and other operational expenses.

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Refugees will be one of the customer segments of the Community Coding Initiative. Many refugees have graduated the Coding Dojo program and have gone on to successful careers in technology. This program will empower refugees to learn in-demand coding and digital skills so they’re able to meaningfully participate in the digital economy through entrepreneurship, gainful employment, or “paying it forward” and using their new skills to create solutions for future refugees. 

If chosen, the Community Coding Initiative would use the prize as initial seed money to get the program off the ground. The funds would be used to research the first 10 pilot cities, travel to each to recruit and train mentors, initial marketing efforts for recruitment, and other operational expenses.

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The Community Coding Initiative aims to spark a wave of long-overdue workforce development in cities and communities across the USA. By organizing and leading low-cost coding workshops, the Community Coding Initiative will address the growing skills gap, revitalize local economies, and empower individuals to pursue meaningful careers in the digital economy.  

If chosen, the Community Coding Initiative would use the prize as initial seed money to get the program off the ground. The funds would be used to research the first 10 pilot cities, travel to each to recruit and train mentors, initial marketing efforts for recruitment, and other operational expenses.

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