Wyncode and CareerSource team up to provide $200,000 in scholarships for Women in Tech Cohort

 
By Nancy Dahlberg
Last year, 57% of professional jobs in the U.S. were held by women, yet they held just 26% of technology positions. The nationwide numbers are even more shocking for African-American and Latino women in tech: Just 3% and 2% respectively.
Wyncode Academy is doing its part to change the statistics.
On Friday, Wyncode announced it has received $200,000 from CareerSource South Florida to provide scholarships for its inaugural Women in Tech Cohort.
The scholarships, in partnership with the YWCA of Greater Miami and Lotus House, will be awarded to eligible women in Miami-Dade County to learn cutting-edge technology skills in the fast growing field of front-end web development. The custom 10-week program will focus on JavaScript and React programming. The classes will take place at the CareerSource South Florida TechHire Center for Women at the YWCA downtown.
“The opportunity to help someone in need while also building diversity within technology is something we are passionate about at Wyncode. Any background can be a pathway to a technology career and building a diverse tech ecosystem will be a competitive advantage for South Florida,” said Johanna Mikkola, who co-founded Wyncode with her husband, Juha.
Wyncode is a coding school launched in 2014 that has expanded its bootcamps and technical training courses considerably since then. Now the technical education company has an ambitious goal for 2020: that half its graduates will be female developers (Wyncode graduated 27% women in 2017 and is at 24% over all time).
“This initiative is focused specifically on getting us there and helping women who otherwise would not have access to this type of life-changing education,” said Johanna Mikkola. “We hope for this program to be a pathway for these individuals to launch new career opportunities and as a result for it to be a life changing experience.”
CareerSource South Florida will also provide hiring incentives to companies that hire the Women in Tech Cohort graduates. Interested companies should contact Wyncode’s Wyntalent division for details.
“We are excited to partner with Wyncode to provide scholarships for the Women in Tech Cohort. With the demand growing for technology jobs, educating our community and preparing women with essential IT skills not only makes them competitive for the global market workplace, but improves the economic vitality of the community,” said  Rick Beasley, CareerSouce South Florida’s executive director, in a statement.
Eligibility for the scholarship program is based on financial need and other factors; veterans are invited to apply. To find out more and apply, go here: http://www.wyncode.co/womenintech.
This is not Wyncode’s only program for women and underrepresented minorities. It has offered scholarships to women in the past, and in March, Wyncode announced a Future Leaders of Miami Technology Fellowship, with support from Knight Foundation and Microsoft, to promote access to technology education for low-income, underrepresented residents in the South Florida area.
 

Wyncode’s cohorts are currently mostly male but the company wants to change that. Pictured at top, Johanna Mikkola, left, talks with Wyncode graduates, who said learning to code changed their lives. They spoke at a Rise of the Rest event.

 
MORE ON REFRESH: Facebook and Ironhack team up on $250,000 scholarship program.
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Nancy Dahlberg