Black and Brown professionals are severely underrepresented in tech, yet much of our daily lives involve some technology. Without adequate representation in the creative and engineering process of developing novel technologies, we risk alienating communities and potentially misrepresenting and harming them. We aim to make our communities aware of tech careers and educate them on how technology impacts their lives.

We live in fantastic times where the information to attain higher employment is just a click, swipe, or voice command away. However, not all can indulge in this information the same way, whether due to a lack of access to a speedy internet connection or internet-accessible devices, physical limitations such as hearing or seeing, or learning styles. We intend to create inclusive resources such as study documents and videos and host in-person and virtual meetings, presentations, and courses; we strive to equip our communities with many educational pathways to achieve their technology career goals.

One of the most deflating experiences for Black and Brown professionals often happens before they begin work. Finding your first tech role can be highly challenging, and due to implicit biases and archaic credential-based hiring processes, Black and Brown tech professionals find themselves in a catch-22 situation; they lack the “formal experience” to attain full-time employment but can’t get full-time employment because they lack “formal work experience.” Perhaps the most critical part of our mission, we aspire to assist tech professionals with landing jobs via our coding cohort programs as instructors and instructor assistants, as content creators for our programs and initiatives, or as contractors working with local companies via our program partnerships.

Raising awareness is only one-half of our commitment to education. Advancing our communities through grass root action is paramount to our goals. We strive to be proactive in working with our local schools, businesses, and community leaders, along with local and state government, in an apolitical manner to improve the quality of life for all Philadelphians and develop our youth to engage in their neighborhoods positively.