Repograma

Our vision is to close the Brazilian and LAC IT gender gap, helping women gain financial independence and become ecosystem catalysts, driving other women to enter the sector.

We are the only bootcamp that focuses on cis and transgender women with no resources or opportunities to learn how to code. We also provide them with soft-skills training and help them get jobs in tech. We select women with a catalyst profile, driven to encourage other women to find a space in tech sector as professors, entrepreneurs or speakers. 

Our largest differential is that we use both online and face-to-face teaching methodologies. Using an online platform (through live as well as recorded classes) is how we are currently reaching all of Brazil, and how we plan on scaling up our startup, reaching women in other Portuguese speaking countries, with the plan to translate to Spanish and extend to LAC.

The challenge being addressed with {reprograma} is the large gender gap and the lack of diversity in the Brazilian technology sector. This is a lost economic opportunity not only for growing tech companies in Brazil (diversity is proven to attract more diversity and generate higher revenues for companies) but also for the 16 million unemployed Brazilian women. The IT sector is a growing sector in Latin America (LA) and in Brazil. In 2015 the Brazilian IT sector was estimated at US$ 165b, employing 1.3 million workers. It is estimated that by 2025 LA will need 1.25 million software developers while a deficit of 140,000 programmers currently exists in Brazil, 58% of these in Sao Paulo. Some argue that the problem lies at university level - barely 15% of computer science graduates today in Brazil, are women. Only 30% of the technology labor force are women, while four out of ten startups don't even have female workers. When looking at the composition of companies' developers team, on average only 12% are women. Many Brazilian women don't believe in their capacity to become software programmers - due to a lack of societal/family support, and a safe environment conducive to effective learning.

Our beneficiaries are cis and transgender women who've always wanted to code but never had the opportunity to learn. All are high- school graduates, some initiated a community college or university degree, several of them drop outs. All front-end students are unemployed - therefore, an 18-week intensive bootcamp model is a perfect fit. They need to rapidly learn to effectively get a job once graduated, to gain income and experience. Our model is intense, we utilize a rapid-skills training methodology and our curricula is constantly being updated based on market demand and tech company feedback. We also believe in the importance of placing our students in jobs as developers as soon as they graduate. Hence, we organize a Speed Hiring Event at the end of each cohort where 30 tech companies are invited to participate. Our selection process is equivalent to any top tech company's. It entails an online application, a course and test. With close to 500 applicants per cohort, a final list of 80 are selected for face to face interviews, and 30 are selected. Eighty three percent of our June graduates got a job 90 days after graduating, while 97% were working 6 months after.

Three main funding sources: i) Grants to implement our courses and/or events (e.g. Facebook, Municipality of Sao Paulo, Creditas, Caelum; in conversations with PwC and Uber). ii) Companies paying fee in exchange for course structuring (e.g. Accenture; in conversations with Nubank, Netshoes and MercadoLivre). iii) Cash Prizes and donations (FundacÃßaÃÉo Arymax, and cash donations from Google, Apple, Uber). In August we'll be testing a new model with our job recruiting event where we will charge technology companies a fee to participate and gain access to graduates' profiles. https://reprograma.com.br/curriculos/turma6. Focus during the next 3 years will be to work on increasing company fees to ensure financial sustainability.

Since we started (May 2016), focus has been to test our model and course content, while sealing solid partnerships. We are now ready to scale within and outside of Sao Paulo with our highly scalable and replicable model. Paths currently being structured with partners: 
1. Expansion to Recife. Partner with Mulheres em InovacÃßaÃÉo, NegoÃÅcios e Artes (MINAS), a Porto Digital (one of Brazil's main tech parks) program. http://www.portodigital.org/parque/about-porto-digital. 
2. Replication in Sao Paulo: Partner with ADESAMPA (SP Municipality) http://adesampa.com.br/. We would share model, content and methodology, for a fee. We would provide technical assistance, select professors and students. 
3. Replicate and scale online course within and outside of Brazil using our alumni as professors and reaching women who would otherwise be unable to learn how to program in a safe learning environment.

We don't have direct competitors in Brazil - no start-up is focusing on teaching code to women with no resources nor has both face to face and online (high scalability and scope of reach) programs.

Our sister institution, Laboratoria, recently entered Brasil and we have closely supported their entry and adaptation to local need. Having said this, we believe that our model is financially more efficient, with better conclusion and hiring rates. 
Given our students have a more in-depth experience (they are full-time with us, from Mon-Friday from 9am-5pm for 4.5 months, versus part-time like Laboratoria, their knowledge level once graduated is superior. There is currently Reprograma alumni working as professors for initiatives such as Laboratoria in Brazil.

Technology is the core of our organization. It is what we teach our students and the sector in which we help them go into as a means of social transformation and prosperity. It is one of the fastest growing sectors in Brazil, and programmers (men and women) are much needed. We are thus directly responding to a market need with an easy to replicate and highly scalable model.

Reprograma started in May of 2016, but we started tracking key results a year ago with a growing team and growing resources. 

Having said this, the number of companies reaching out to us for more female programmers, and women requesting we expand outside of Sao Paulo continue to grow and we need to more effectively. 

The use of technologies for result tracking is where we could use the most help from the MIT Inclusing Innovation Challenge team and advisors. 

Today, we use metrics to improve our Program's content and impact. However, metrics monitored and quantitative and qualitative analysis of our Program is done manually. Key areas include our selection process (manually analyzing 500+ applications), and evaluation of student learning and engagement. Our program would benefit enormously if we were to have the resources (financial and technical assistance from MIT) to develop the required solutions allowing more efficient operations and higher scope of impact.

Results to date:

- 210 devs graduated from our program, additional 65 to graduate in July, and additional 100 by the end of 2019.
- 7 face to face front-end cohorts implemented.
- 2 face to face back-end cohorts implemented.
- 1 online front-end cohort implemented.
- 97% completion rate of all cohorts
- Latest graduated cohort: 85% working in tech 3 months after graduation, 95% working in dev 6 months after graduation.
- Main job title: Front-end junior developers
- Average monthly salary: R$ 2900 (USD 763). 

100% of our front-end face to face students since we started in May 2016 are unemployed women. Proven prosperity is shown by the fact that they go from having no income at all prior to participating in our program, to graduating and being hired as Front End Junior Developers and making an average salary of R$ 2900.

During the year our top 3 goals are:

1) Scaling up both face to face 
2) Financial sustainability
3) Creating spaces for female technical presentations (currently almost nonexistent)

Metrics used
>75% working in tech 3 months >95% 6 months post grad. 
> R$ 2,500 average salary 
>95% conclusion rate 
>95% student satisfaction rate 
Aspiring job positions: Junior or Senior developers (depending bootcamp graduated from). 
>70% of our cohorts are non-white women. 

Risk 1 - We are unable to automatize our processes and become more efficient in selection and program management as we continue to expand. 

Risk 2. We are unable to reach the financial sustainability necessary to sustain our growth. 

Risk 3. We are not able to effectively show the qualitative social transformation our program is having on women's lives. 

Risk 4. That companies find legal loopholes to hire our graduates without paying committed hiring fee.

Risk 1: To mitigate, we are searching for technical and financial support to develop required technologies and platforms. Currently talking to two companies who develop tech company selection process software who are willing to adapt this technology to our own selection process and operational needs.

Risk 2: Mitigation: Diversify our sources of revenue and focus on fee generating activities. Also seek strong financial partners to support our growth. 
Risk 3: Mitigation: Create addition qualitative impact indicators and publish an annual impact report.
Risk 4: To mitigate this risk, we are working closely with our pro bono lawyers (Mattos Filho) to develop a legal model that will ensure companies pay committed fees.

Our organization was funded by Mariel Reyes Milk (CEO). 

Our management team is composed of an additional two co-founders - also women. Fernanda Faria Lemos (Head of Operations). Brazilian, Communications, previously with PUCP-SP. Responsible for HR, communications, social media; and Carla de Bona Marangoni (Program Head). Brazilian, Designer, UX/UI Professor. Responsible for course design, professors selection and management, metric and feedback collection and impact evaluation. Four ex-students are supporting operations.

Our organization in based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Physically, we are located at the Estacao Hack, Facebook's only global investment of this sort. It is an innovation and technology hub supporting initiatives that promote the education and technology of minority populations. We were one of 6 initiatives selected in Brazil to become residents there.

Our face to face bootcamps take place there, although we are now in conversations with Facebook to take our courses to other more remote places in Brazil through a Program they lead called Na Estrada (literally, on the road). Also in conversations with Digital Parks in Recife and Salvador for the possibility of taking Reprograma to the northeast.

Given our proven track record, tested business model and highly replicable course modules, we are uniquely positioned not only to grow our face to face courses but also our online course which have the highest bang for the buck outcome -- high impact at a much lower cost, with extremely high replicability and scope of reach.

Recognitions

2018 Fundacao Arymax Price (RS 50,000)
2018 IBM Volunteer Excellence Awards (USD 10,000)

Press Coverage

LAVCA 
https://lavca.org/2017/11/15/i...

Santa Clara University Alumni
https://www.scu.edu/news-and-e...
https://magazine.scu.edu/magaz...

Programa Economía creativa - DW
http://bit.ly/dw-reprograma 

Programa Ressoar - Record News
http://bit.ly/ressoar-reprogra... 

Olhar digital
http://bit.ly/olhar-digital-re... 

Estadao (entrevista com ex-aluna Mariana Ruther)
http://bit.ly/estadao-aluna-re...

We are a non-profit organization and currently have three main funding sources: 

i) Grants to implement our courses and/or events (e.g. Facebook, Municipality of Sao Paulo, Creditas, Caelum; in conversations with PwC and Uber). 
ii) Companies paying fee in exchange for course structuring (e.g. Accenture; in conversations with Nubank, Netshoes and MercadoLivre). 

iii) Cash Prizes and donations (FundacÃßaÃÉo Arymax, and cash donations from Google, Apple, Uber). 

In August we'll be testing a new model with our job recruiting event where we will charge technology companies a fee to participate and gain access to graduates' profiles. https://reprograma.com.br/curriculos/turma6. 

Our focus during the next 3 years will be to work on increasing company fees to secure financial sustainability.