Code the Dream

Every year, the tech sector creates thousands of high-paying new jobs, while the automation it allows eliminates thousands of ‘low-skill’ jobs, held by a diverse cross-section of Americans. Moreover, the benefits of the tech boom have been extremely unevenly distributed, with only tiny fractions of new jobs and wealth going to Black and Latinx communities. 

But fundamentally, this is much more than just an economic issue. But if we want to solve humanity’s most intractable problems, we need all voices and minds around the table of innovation. Code the Dream exists because we would all be better off in a world in which the broadest possible cross-section of our society had the ability to directly contribute their talents and experiences in creating tools to solve these and other core barriers standing between us and the lives we all deserve to live.

We live in a time where the inequities in our society have been laid bare and while tech platforms are giving voice to many, ironically, it's an industry that excludes many. 

51% of Americans are women, and roughly 40% are not white. But not in tech.  With hundreds of thousands of new high-paying jobs each year in tech, less than 5% of people in tech are black and latino and only 1 in every 4 are women. How can we effect change?

 Code the Dream is an ambitious example of how we can create both more equitable wealth and far more needed technology when we change who is in the driver’s seat. Code the Dream’s unique model trains and prepares people from diverse low-income backgrounds with in-demand, high tech skills to enter, re-enter or move from low wage jobs into software development positions.  

A nonprofit social enterprise, CTD also fills a critical niche by providing technological solutions for challenges faced by organizations focused on changing systems and removing structural barriers for populations who have been historically marginalized, subjected to discrimination, or excluded from full participation in society.

Thanks to the myriad of available apps, we know where to get coffee, order in food, and watch our favorite TV programs anywhere, anytime.  But what if you’re a migrant farmworker in need of healthcare or a parent unable to get a job because of a suspended license or criminal record? 

 Code the Dream is a growing nationwide community of people of color, immigrants, refugees and change-seekers developing technologies that meet urgent needs and reflect our progressive values. 

CTD Labs, CTD’s in-house software development shop, is unique in providing support for nonprofit, business and government partners to overcome the challenges of reaching and impacting  the underserved, underrepresented and undocumented by developing technology that addresses issues such as healthcare and legal access, food insecurity and inequities in the criminal justice system. 

Built by CTD Labs apprentices, many of whom have firsthand experience with racial and social inequities, these projects are opportunities to gain real, hands-on work experience. CTD Labs innovative apps have a multiplier effect on the outreach and impact of our partner’s programs.

What if Google, Amazon and Apple were run by people who had experienced poverty or discrimination? What if they were primarily people or color? What if instead of the myriad of apps helping us to order in food or watch our favorite TV programs anywhere, anytime, they developed apps that helped migrant farmworkers in need of healthcare or parents unable to get a job because of a suspended license or criminal record? 

Code the Dream’s free software development training is targeted to individuals with low representation in tech and underserved, low-income communities, particularly:

● Immigrants

● Refugees

● People of color

● Women

CTD Labs, Code the Dream’s real-world software development apprenticeship program, works with other nonprofits, businesses and government to develop web and mobile technology that address economic and racial justice issues in support of marginalized communities such as:

● Migrant farmworkers

● Victims of racially discriminatory criminal justice systems

● Undocumented populations

● Minority and women-owned businesses/entrepreneurs

Many of CTD’s board and staff leadership also have direct experience of the systemic and economic challenges faced by our students, apprentices and communities. CTD’s board of Directors, senior leadership and staff are 56%, 63% and 69% people of color, respectively.  First generation immigrants comprise 67% of CTD’s board and 38% of staff. Over 85% of CTD students and apprentices are people of color, and the vast majority of CTD’s budget goes directly to support their work. 

At CTD, 85% of our apprentices go on to high-paying tech careers, and the technologies they build -- from apps addressing COVID-related food insecurity to criminal justice reform -- benefit thousands more.

CTD is focused on providing a pathway for marginalized, underrepresented and underserved communities to enter or re-enter the digital workforce by providing software development training and mentor sessions, and leveraging the talents and diverse experiences of our students to empower and build vibrant communities. 

CTD grew out of years of conversations with representatives from low-income communities of color regarding the critical need for alternative career pathways leading to economic security.

CTD Labs is unique in its focus on partnering with a wide range of nonprofits and local and state governments to create multiplier effects in their reach and impact in improving the health and well-being of vulnerable communities. 

But fundamentally, this is much more than just an economic issue. On the broadest level, this lack of diversity also means that many widely needed new technologies never get developed at all. CTD’s model of free software development training and paid apprenticeship allows students to gain real-world experience developing apps that directly benefit our communities – from tools that benefit low-income children in predominantly minority communities to new technologies that allow hundreds of thousands of people with minor criminal records to clear their names and get a fresh start.

From 2015 - 2018, CTD consisted essentially of a series of iterative North Carolina-based pilot projects, each improving on CTD’s overall model.

From 2018 to 2021, CTD’s budget grew from $350,000 to over $2 million. At the time the full model was honed and implemented in 2019, CTD had a six-person team and $700,000 budget. With the experience gained to that point, CTD was ready for growth, and over the last two years has grown 3x -- now with a $2MM budget, double the staff, and a model that is serving students in 12 states. CTD’s technology development capacity has also grown dramatically -- now working with partners across the country to develop new technologies that improve lives.

Despite CTD’s growth, the applicant pool continues to far outpace current capacity. The number of applicants has grown over 1,000%, leaving us at times only able to accept 10% of applicants.