Giving Changes Lives
Ada Developers Academy started with a simple idea: to attract under represented people and train them for a software development career in tech. With diversity comes innovation, and the way diversity can happen in tech is through a comprehensive workplace development organization. By bringing more women and gender diverse people in to Seattle’s tech industry, a wider array of ideas and perspectives would be incorporated into many tech products used today. Many students are of modest means. A coding career can lift women and gender diverse people up and out of low paying jobs, bringing more choices and empowerment that come with knowledge and a stable income.
We’ve Grown Fast
We started five years ago with 15 students. Now, thanks to the efforts of the community, we have over 250 graduates. We offer two cohorts per year that delivers a pool of 96 diversity developer candidates to the Seattle tech marketplace. Our program is an intensive, tuition-free full-stack development program that provides access to many marginalized folks who have been previously denied access. With our winter cohort starting in early February 2019, we need your support right now. The Ada Loan fund is a valuable source of funds which enables many future developers to apply for and receive a low-interest loan to help cover food and housing while in training. This modest buffer is all many students need to remain focused and complete the program.
Since 2015, non-profit community lender Craft3 has partnered with us to provide these low-interest loans to students who often earn less than $55,000 per year. This loan program has been particularly important for our efforts to attract folks from marginalized communities specifically under-represented minorities. Since 2015, our loan program has been the key to enabling up to 50% of students to attend and complete our coding program.
Continuing Our Loan Program
During the first 3 years of the loan program our lending partner Craft3 supplied its own loan capital to fund more than $870,000 of loans to Ada students. As of 2018, Ada needed to supply the capital to fund this program and with the support of the community has been able to ensure that this valuable fund is still available to the most vulnerable future developers that need it most.
The Ada Loan Fund will become self-sustaining in time as graduates begin to pay back their loans and those funds will revolve and be made available to Ada students in future cohorts.
Our Incoming Adies Need Your Support Today
We need $250,000 in the Ada Loan Fund to support the incoming February 2019 cohort by mid-January 2019. Every contribution the community makes puts under-represented future developers one step closer to changing the face of tech. We encourage anyone giving to this fund to check with their employer. Many companies offer matching donations for employee gifts, often doubling the power of their contribution. Please make your gift today and help change someone’s life.
Donate: http://bit.ly/AdaGT2018
If you, your company or organization wants to learn more, please contact: [email protected]
Thanks for your generous support!