Laboratoria, a women training bootcamp

Higher education is very limited in access to low-income young women. Technical education, often targeting lower-income youth, often lacks the tools to build critical life skills to sustain employment. Most job-training programs targeting low-income youth focus on basic skills that will get youth a job but not a career.
Hence, despite their talent and potential, most young women from lower-income backgrounds end up in low-paid, informal employment, without much opportunity for mobility.
Laboratoria is building an accessible, holistic and blended education model to prepare low-income women to fill in jobs in high-demand niches, such as tech.
In six months, and at a fraction of the cost of higher education, we prepare low-income women to work as software developers. Our graduates not only get a job that solves their economic needs - they launch a career that will transform their future.

The problem of low access to quality education and jobs for women in Latin America, which in turn reduces their possibilities of accessing higher incomes and therefore the financial market.  Until today, higher education has been the primary path to access better job opportunities and social mobility. Despite significantly growing in access, completion rates of tertiary education in Latin America are as low as 14% (OECD). Moreover, traditional higher education is often failing to prepare youth for an ever changing labor market. According to CISCO, 62% of companies in Latin America are not finding talent with the correct skills.
In countries like Chile, less than xx% of youth women who begin tertiary education actually transition to formal employment. In this context, young people face enormous challenges to access decent jobs where they can kick-start a career. Women are the most affected by this reality, representing 70% of the 22 million youth who do not work or study in Latin America (World-Bank). In fact, many of the women we work with have not worked in the formal economy yet and in their first job after the program, they triple their income, significantly increasing their financial capability and access to financial services. 

To solve these problems, we propose an innovative training and employability model, focused on teaching women from underserved backgrounds, the skill sets required to find jobs and develop careers in technology. We believe it is crucial for these women to acquire the skills that will prepare them for the jobs not only of today, but also for  those of tomorrow, given the significant digital transformation our economies are going through.

After 6 months of immersive training we will transform 40 women per cohort in Santiago, into Software Developers and User Experience Designers. We will then help them connect with companies in need of their talent, to assure that at least the 60% of them find great jobs in technology. We know this is possible because we have already done it with more than 1,000 women in the region, and more than 80% of the students of our last cohorts are working in technology with incomes that triple their previous earnings, allowing them to access more and better financial services as well. We will follow up on our students on quarterly basis upon their graduation, in order to measure the impact of this program in their lives. 

We target women who have had poor access to quality education and jobs, yet have the talent to thrive, and invite them to apply to Laboratoria through our website.  Once registered, these applicants go through a rigorous selection process, made up of a series of cognitive development exams (critical thinking, logic exams), and soft skills evaluations (emotional control, communication skills, etc). Throughout the process, we look for learning potential and commitment, over experience or previous knowledge. As the applicant  continues the process, she takes an online introductory course on JavaScript, undergoes interviews and the semi-finalists are invited to participate in a pre-admission week at Laboratoria, in order for them to live first hand the Laboratoria experience and confirm that they want to be part of this immersive experience. Then, the final candidates are selected to participate in our 6-month training bootcamp. 

We're helping promote the growth of an inclusive tech sector in Latam that will better prepare the region to succeed in the future. 

Our work is changing who goes into STEM careers, transforming what it means to be a software developer in the common understanding of our communities. It is also changing how companies think about talent and hire. 

The more women we insert in tech, the faster the sector grows, the more role models there are, and the more inclusive the teams they join will become. 

Laboratoria is a new approach to technical education: one that helps women that have been traditionally excluded from a sector (tech), build the complex set of technical and life skills they need to not only get a job, but build a successful career in the field that will shape our future. To get here, we have pivoted an endless number of times over the past five years. We have tested new things, learned rapidly, and refined every aspect of our intervention. Today, there are a few important traits that help us remain at the forefront of innovation and make our program unique:

1)A "live" selection process: with every cohort that goes through the program, we adapt our selection algorithm to become better at identifying candidates.

2)An immersive, holistic and life-changing learning experience: Students and team give their lives to this experience across six months, challenging themselves to learn more than they thought possible.

3)A close connection with companies from the very beginning: They provide feedback to our curricula, co-design specific learning projects, give workshops and mentor students.

4)We are a movement: If you ask our graduates, students, and even hiring companies, most of them will refer to Laboratoria as a movement of women in tech that is transforming this sector.

5)A working culture where we are always striving to learn and better serve our users: We are a social impact startup that moves fast, aspires to excellence and has its social mission as the driving force behind all we do.

Technology is a key enabler of our scale and we use it throughout our program. To apply to Laboratoria, we have an online application where students complete their exams and pre-work. These data is key for us to later compare with their performance in the bootcamp and at work, and continue advancing the predictability of our selection process. We want to start experimenting with Machine Learning to make this process more efficient and scalable. 

To run our bootcamp, we have a Learning Management System that has evolved with our program. It is now adapted to our project-based learning methodology, and our vision is to continue investing in this technology to advanced in personalized learning. 

Finally, we also have an application to serve hiring companies. All our graduates create an online profile with their skills and projects, and companies can filter a number of criteria to find the profiles that better fit their needs. Companies post their offers and schedule interviews online. As we advance this technology and gather more data, we want to use Machine Learning to suggest the best possible company / developer match based on a series of cultural attributes. 

We have been very lean in the process of building our own technology, starting small and investing more as we validate our learnings. Today we have an in-house team of software developers and plan to continue making strategic investments in technology as we grow.

1.  Online application: https://postula.laboratoria.la/#page-block-wtem3xbs8nh

2. Laboratorian Learning Management System: https://lms.laboratoria.la/courses  (you need to log in)

3. App with the graduate's online profile https://app.talento.laboratoria.la/

Laboratoria has a profound impact in the lives of every student that goes through it, their families and wider communities. Our graduates go from unemployment or low-skilled work, to prominent careers in the tech sector in less than a year. We have placed developers in over 400 leading companies in Latam and abroad that now source talent from a pipeline that expands access to opportunity. Our graduates have become a positive example in their communities, inspiring thousands more to pursue a career in tech. Over 90% of our students from recent cohorts sustain their jobs after a year of working, demonstrating they have acquired skills that will help them earn a much better living in the long-run. 

At the system’s level, Laboratoria is helping promote the growth of an inclusive tech sector in Latam that will better prepare the region to succeed in the future. Our work is changing who goes into STEM careers, transforming what it means to be a software developer in the common understanding of our communities (to something much more appealing for young women!). It is also changing how companies think about talent and hire. The good thing is this is a wave where there is no way back. The more women we insert in tech, the faster the sector grows, the more role models there are, and the more inclusive the teams they join will become. As time goes by, our students will be the ones shaping the industry, ensuring it only continues to grow in the same direction.

Finally, by getting women into a field so relevant as tech (vs any other sector), our work is ensuring women are also part of designing humanity's future. We believe such future will be a better one for all. 

Currently in Santiago de Chile (June 2020), we have a total of 450 graduates women of the 12 cohorts who have passed through our bootcamp. In addition, we have 2 bootcamps working with more than 60 women who will graduate in September and November 2020. New students will enter in August and October, completing a total of 120 women during 2020.

For the year 2021 we estimate to graduate 6 new bootcamps, which will complete a total of 800 women throughout history in Santiago.

In 5 years we hope to have more than 1500 graduates of the bootcamps taught in Santiago de Chile.

Up to now, Laboratoria has trained over 450 young women with impressive results: close to 70% of our graduates have secured employment in different tech agencies across the country; on average, students securing employment have more than tripled their income prior to the program; the average score of employer satisfaction with Laboratoria graduates after 6 months working stands at 4/5.

Since the launch of our first pilot program in 2015 in Chile, we gained a deeper-understanding of the needs of our target population by improving the course’s content and developing new teaching methods such as our blended-learning model.

We still rely heavily on donations, however we are working to consolidate a revenue model that will take us to our goal of self-sustainability by 2025.

Probably our biggest challenge to achieve it is that we need to do so in accordance to market demand for software developers and UX designers. The profound impact of our program is in large part because of the high placement rates we attain, so we need to protect this as a core part of our work.

To address this challenge, our close relationship to companies is crucial. By training them and helping them advance their digital transformation, we push the growth of the tech sector. By shaping a commitment to diversity with them we can get leading players to commit to hire junior, female talent, and be part of building a more inclusive sector. 

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20 full-time Laboratorians

Our executive leadership (co-founders, partners and directors of key strategic areas) oversee the strategy, product design and operations of the organization. 

The Country Director leads the City of Santiago and ensures we train, graduate and place the expected number of students in accordance with the high standards of quality developed by Laboratoria. The Country Director leads the team that works in each part of our model. The Training Manager is responsible for the Bootcamp’s implementation and coordinates a team of 6 coaches and 1 psychologist per location on average. The Job Placement manager and Alumnae manager respectively help our graduates to connect with great job opportunities and accompany them throughout their careers. Additionally, we have an Admin & Finance coordinator, a People and Culture coordinator and a Communications Manager.

These local teams receive all the products from the design teams that develop each of our products (admission, training, placement, alumnae), having a permanent communication between them. For this specific project, our Alumnae Regional Project Manager, with our Chief Product Officer will leading the Community Building efforts throughout the organization. 

For this specific project, the responsible for the implementation will be the Country Director in Santiago, The bootcamp Training Manager and our Admin & Finance coordinator.

We’ve build a strong team ready to experiment and dream big.

We hold a variety of partnerships from diverse sectors, which have helped us grow, scale, and strengthen our impact. We work with five main type of partnerships: private companies, governments, entrepreneurship communities, education technology players and funding organizations. 

Our main partnerships with the private sector are related to the placement of our students to fill their digital skills gap. 

Regarding governments, we have worked with them at different levels in all our centers. In Chile, for example, CORFO from the Ministry of Economy has been one of our key donors, facilitating our initiation and expansion there.

Regarding entrepreneurship communities, in Chile we are partners with the IF Community, one of the leading groups of entrepreneurs of the country. We like to share and learn from fellow social entrepreneurs, as we are all part of the same movement of change. 

Regarding other education technology companies, we have an “open source” approach to all we do, sharing and building our curricula publicly, and partnering with other education providers such as Platzi to facilitate content development. We are part of multiple networks of education entrepreneurs through our investors, and find immense value in sharing and learning from others in our space. 

Finally, funding wise we receive grants from public and private sector stakeholders that believe in our work and mission, both at a local level in each center, and at regional levels (Google.org, Omidyar Network, Inter-American Development Bank, among others). 

We are incorporated as a non-profit organization but from the get-go we had clear we wanted to find a way to sustain a large part of our operations from earned revenue. At the beginning it was not easy, but as we've been able to demonstrate the value we add to our stakeholders, we've advanced significantly in consolidating three revenue streams:

1) Student Payback: once graduates begin working they start paying back the direct cost of the program in monthly installments across 24 months. Fees vary a bit by graduate but on average in Santiago, graduates pay ~$70 over 24 months, totaling ~$1,700. We give them the option to pay in less months, depending on their individual financial circumstances. They pay through direct debit directly to Laboratoria. 

2) Placement Fee: companies pay a placement fee for recruiting our talent and for participating in our recruitment events. On average, the fee per company is $800. In 2019 we will experiment with a yearly fee than enables companies to hire multiple graduates throughout the year. 

3) Company Training: we provide training in digital skills for companies. On average, each training session of ~12 hours costs $12,000.

Laboratoria’s goal is to deliver meaningful impact, while also generating enough financial revenues that allow for self-sustainability. Since our beginning, however, we have prioritized impact. Our focus has been on refining how we create social value. This is what drives us and why we can state that 70% of our graduates triple their income and jumpstart a career in tech in just 5 months.

Throughout our operation, however, in line with our goal of becoming self-sustainable, we have explored ways of generating financial revenues. In 2015, we began charging graduates that secured employment a “pay-back fee” to cover the cost of their education, asking them to contribute 10% of their monthly salary until all costs were covered (2-3 years). In 2016 we also explored charging hiring companies with a “headhunter fee” for access to our talent pool. Both initiatives have had mixed results; and as a result, 90% of Laboratoria’s funds comes from donations. We have therefore decided to evolve our revenue model and implement the following changes :

1.- Diversify the services provided to Laboratoria’s hiring companies

2.-Develop and implement a new model called Corporate training: We train professionals from companies that are experiencing the digital transformation, and they pay us. 

With Solve’s support we will:

In Chile this support will be crucial to further consolidate our operation there and to test  a new training model that we believe will be extremely beneficial for the applicants interested in Laboratoria, for our students, and for the hiring companies. 

Also, improve our individual technology products (admissions, LMS and job placement app) so that the products reach similar levels of maturity and become integrated to each other providing the best user experience possible to applicants, students, graduates and hiring companies. 

Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for the AI for Humanity Prize?The AI for Humanity Prize is open to solutions that are already using strong data science, artificial intelligence, or machine learning to benefit humanity, and to solutions that are not yet using these technologies but plan to do so to amplify their impact in the future. This prize is made possible by The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and our global community through neuroscience research and information technology. Up to $200,000 will be granted across several Solver teams from any of Solve’s Global Challenges.

The program itself will help us identify the best partnerships we need. A priori, we can say we would be interested in partnering with organizations that can provide us with talent, expertise, and tools on the type of Software Development and  Digital Transformation (DT or DX) we need, according to our current stage and model. 

The incentives for these organizations and people could be the opportunity to partner up with one of the most renowned social impact organizations in Latam, the opportunity to work in a project with specific impact indicators, the opportunity to work alongside an organization with a highly valued culture and work environment, and to have the opportunity to directly transform the lives of thousands of women and to impact the talent tech world.

Laboratoria, at its core, is a new education model: one that provides young women the skills they need to be competitive in today’s economy, in the shortest possible time and at the lowest possible cost.

These results have an enormous impact on their economic prospects and in the broader labor market. It means that our students enter the formal economy, rely less on government programs, have greater spending capacity, and in the long run, are better equipped to stay employed and eligible for high-skilled jobs.

Laboratoria adds value to both its students and the tech sector by providing youth a path toward employment that: 1) responds to market demand, 2) prepares students in months, not years, and 3) leverages the use of technology and “blended learning” methods to reduce cost at its minimum.

Our model is designed to be accessible to women who most need this opportunity and our work is more relevant than ever as we face ongoing and increasing change and uncertainty.  Women are part of the vulnerable population that is already being affected at higher rates by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The skills we help our students develop make them valuable additions to any work team and help them find quality jobs and launch a successful professional career. While we strive to improve our financial sustainability, the continued generous support of partners remain key in order for us to continue carrying out our work.