Selected
Gender Equity in STEM Challenge

Changing the Face of Tech

Ada Developers Academy prepares women and gender expansive people to become software developers, and trains tech companies to foster more equitable working environments.

Team Leader
Alexandra Holien
Ada Developers Academy prepares women and gender expansive people to become software developers, and trains tech companies to foster more equitable working environments.

The Problem

The tech industry faces a deepening talent shortage, yet traditional pathways continue to lock out women, gender-diverse adults, and BIPOC and low-income people. AI is accelerating that exclusion, eliminating entry-level roles while creating new opportunities that will default to the same narrow demographics that have always dominated tech.

The Solution

We creates multiple career pathways into tech for the people most often excluded from them. We provide tuition-free training that prepares participants to work as software developers and technologists across disciplines including cloud infrastructure and AI, through a six-month classroom program and applied learning via internships, apprenticeships, and capstone projects rooted in real-world business needs. Our preparatory programs create an on-ramp for applicants who need foundational support, including free technical training, mentors, study groups, and a streamlined admissions process.

Our model works because we remove the real barriers to access: cost, time, and lack of support. Students pay nothing and receive a monthly stipend during internship. We also provide childcare, mental health support, devices, and financial assistance for living expenses.

Ada's curriculum builds both hard and soft skills, ensuring participants are not just prepared for today's tech roles but positioned for the AI-driven workforce ahead.

Stats

Changing the Face of Tech has reached over 6,000 people through its programs.

What is the name of your organization?
Ada Developers Academy
What is the name of your solution?
Changing the Face of Tech
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Ada Developers Academy prepares women and gender expansive people to become software developers, and trains tech companies to foster more equitable working environments.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Seattle, WA
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
United States
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
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What specific problem are you solving?
The tech industry faces a deepening talent shortage, yet traditional pathways continue to lock out women, gender-diverse adults, and BIPOC and low-income people. AI is accelerating that exclusion, eliminating entry-level roles while creating new opportunities that will default to the same narrow demographics that have always dominated tech.
What is your solution?
We creates multiple career pathways into tech for the people most often excluded from them. We provide tuition-free training that prepares participants to work as software developers and technologists across disciplines including cloud infrastructure and AI, through a six-month classroom program and applied learning via internships, apprenticeships, and capstone projects rooted in real-world business needs. Our preparatory programs create an on-ramp for applicants who need foundational support, including free technical training, mentors, study groups, and a streamlined admissions process. Our model works because we remove the real barriers to access: cost, time, and lack of support. Students pay nothing and receive a monthly stipend during internship. We also provide childcare, mental health support, devices, and financial assistance for living expenses. Ada's curriculum builds both hard and soft skills, ensuring participants are not just prepared for today's tech roles but positioned for the AI-driven workforce ahead.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Ada serves women and gender-expansive adults from communities historically excluded from tech, primarily Black, Latine, Indigenous, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, and LGBTQIA+ people, and low-income adults who face the greatest risk of being left behind as AI transforms the economy. Ada is the moment everything changes. A first career with a living wage. The ability to pay off debt, support a family, and build savings. A seat at a table they were never supposed to sit at. But graduates do not just take that seat. They reshape the room. They become future tech leaders who advocate for equitable and inclusive workplaces from the inside, and mentors for others dreaming about a career in tech. After more than a decade, we have seen this compound. Each cohort builds on the last. Ada does not just change lives. It builds the leaders who change the industry, one workplace at a time.

Organization Type:
Nonprofit

Headquarters:
Seattle, WA, United States

Stage:
Growth

Working In:
United States

Solution Website:
https://adadevelopersacademy.org

Solution Team:
Alexandra Holien
Alexandra Holien
VP of Revenue and Marketing + Deputy Director
Fiona Smith
Fiona Smith
Chief Strategist