#YesWeCode aims to teach 100,000 Black youth how to code

The goal of the YesWeCode initiative is to target low-opportunity youth and provide them with necessary resources and tools to become world-class computer programmers.

The YesWeCode initiative

I stumbled upon this story on urbanintellectuals. As being a young black tech who self-taught myself coding and design, I couldn’t help but write about this non-profit.

Blacks are underrepresented in the fields of computer science and engineering. So what Van Jones is doing with one of his non-profit’s called YesWeCode, aims to bridge that gap.

In 2014, Jones put together a team of compassionate people to form YesWeCode an organization. Their mission is finding ways to uplift today’s urban youth and help them achieve a more promising future.

The goal of the YesWeCode initiative is to target low-opportunity youth and provide them with necessary resources and tools to become world-class computer programmers.

This is a highly valuable skill in the 21st century. I can personally say I come across many tech jobs. The future is bright for those who want to develop tech start ups.

Speaking about the YesWeCode organization, Jones said this:

“I don’t care if they are ‘Straight Out of Compton’, from Detroit, Chicago or Harlem; I will teach 100,000 black children computer coding. More, if I blessed with more time in this life.”

– Van Jones, founder, Yes We Code, Oakland, CA

Communicate, Convene, and Catalyze

The program’s mission is based on three principles : Communicate, Convene, and Catalyze.

From its website:

YesWeCode acts as a connector and catalyzer, providing backbone infrastructure that amplifies the work of our network partners. Since July 2014, #YesWeCode’s strengths have been to:

• Communicate: In partnership with Facebook, YesWeCode launched an interactive website with a powerful search tool that enables youth to find local coding education resources. This tool also helps our coding partners recruit volunteers and mentors.

• Convene: YesWeCode has convened 100+ coding practitioners and stakeholders in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and New Orleans. #YesWeCode partnered with Qeyno Labs to host a Start-Up Weekend hackathon in Oakland in February, focused on uplifting young African American men and boys.

• Catalyze: In July, #YesWeCode launched at the 20th Anniversary ESSENCE Festival with a youth-focused hackathon and a headline performance by Prince, before a festival audience of 500,000 people.

YesWeCode Pipeline

The job-training three-step pipeline is designed to guide youth from introductory coding programs, to immersive job-training programs, and eventually into employment. Our national pilot program will launch in Oakland.

“Diversity brings so much more to the table. By focusing outside of the usual and rewarding all sorts of people in tech, we can only make it better. #YesWeCode is doing exactly that.”
– Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple