Innovative program helps Lawrence, MA, get off the mat

Code Queens is a 10-week hands-on coding course designed to get young women interested in STEM careers. To graduate, students must participate in a hackathon that asks them to solve a real-world business challenge through coding.

The ReDI School of Digital Integration offers free technology classes to women with migrant and refugee backgrounds, as well as career resources such as mentorships, company visits, talent matching, and internship opportunities. More than 500 students have participated in the school's Denmark-based programs.

For people reentering society after prison, the Reentry Initiative offers them the services and support they need. The program, housed at California State San Bernardino, provides former inmates the tools they need to avoid recidivism and rebuild their lives. Some of the classes offered are computer literacy, job readiness, and anger management – but fundamental to it all is cultivating a culture of respect and community amongst participants.

Nonprofits like L'Arche Boston North are using food service education, job coaching, and mentoring to connect adults with intellectual disabilities to meaningful employment. At least 30 graduates of the now-closing Breaking Grounds Café have gone on to work in food service, and multiple L'Arche participants have secured jobs in the industry.

“Grow your own” programs, like Reach University’s, are working to address teacher shortages, particularly in rural areas, by recruiting school employees who don’t have college or education degrees and giving them a chance to earn an undergraduate degree in education at just $75 a month. Participants take courses online and take 15 hours out of their work week to spend time observing and training in classrooms. So far 84% of all parishes across the state have signed up to take Reach trainees, which could put a significant dent in the statewide teacher vacancy issue.

A digital literacy training program in Nigeria, the Gina Mata, Gina Al'umma, is bridging the country’s technology gender gap by teaching women and girls about the gig economy, STEM, graphic design, storytelling, and how to sell products online.

The Afolabi Abdulakeem Faisol (AAF) Academy connects with prospective students via WhatsApp and teaches them graphic design and video editing skills as a way to earn money. Since 2021, the Academy has held seven educational boot camps, teaching thousands of people across several countries.

Deaf Technology Foundation offers weekly activities to train Deaf students in programming, robotics, and other computer science skills. The sessions, which are taught using sign language, have served roughly 1,600 students so far.

First Place offers supportive housing for adults with autism and Down syndrome and those who are neurodivergent. Along with housing, First Place also offers a residential transition program that teaches skills like budgeting and management to prepare residents to live independently.

The Osun Girls Can Code program provides young women with a week of hands-on training in website development, app development, and coding to help bridge the access gap to technology-related jobs in Nigeria.