What We Do
The Approach
Code for Life is grounded in a Neighborhood Focused, Youth & Tech Development Focused, Collaborative approach with a strong commitment to measurable outcomes. Our proven Theory of Change incorporates Vision Casting, Life Coaching, Positive Peer Group Experiences, Case Management, and Life & Tech Skill Building. By equipping youth with practical tools and fostering a positive learning environment, we help them gain confidence and build skills that translate to real opportunities in the tech industry.
The Problem: A Tech-Driven Economy Requires Skill-Building
Our labor market is becoming increasingly more digital, data-driven and automated. We are now in a race between how quickly we are able to equip the workforce for our accelerating tech-driven economy. This shift significantly reduces the number of well-paying unskilled jobs associated with the economy of the past. Those living in under-resourced communities lacking access to skill development opportunities are at the greatest risk of being left behind. However, our city and nation can ill-afford to leave its young people out of the tech-driven economy. To remain competitive, the economy of the future requires a diverse and highly-skilled workforce.
tech jobs in NYC
%
STEM Workers earn 40% more than non-stem
%
STEM Sector contributes 12.3% of City tax Revenue
Since 1990 the U.S. labor market has experienced a 79% increase (9.7 million to 17.3 million) in employment related to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) occupations. Computer jobs alone have increased by 338% over the same period. In fact, New York City’s competitive advantage is largely tied to growth in STEM fields – the tech ecosystem added 45,000 jobs between 2003 and 2013, outperforming the overall rate of employment growth in the City and the nation. Further, the New York City tech ecosystem includes 291,000 jobs that facilitate, produce, or are enabled by technology. Despite this growth, challenges remain in how to expand these opportunities to those living in under-resourced communities.
Opportunities in the STEM sector provide new pathways for success. Typical workers in the STEM field earn significantly more, on average, when compared to typical non-STEM workers. The median earnings for STEM workers 25 and older were $71,000 in 2016, yet non-STEM workers earned approximately $43,000, 40% less than their STEM counterparts.
With the erosion of the manufacturing industry, the STEM sector provides career opportunities that do not require a post-secondary degree as an entry ticket to earning a higher income. For example, computer tech support and website development roles do not require a bachelor’s degree, yet provide an annual median wage of approximately $63,000 and $66,000 respectively. In fact, a report commissioned by the Associate for a Better New York, Citi, Google, and the NY Tech Meetup, found 44% of the City’s 291,000 tech jobs do not require a bachelor’s degree and offer hourly pay rates that are 49% above the City average.
Additionally, growth in the tech ecosystem provides a measurable value-add to the City’s economy – approximately 7% of the City’s workforce is employed directly in the technology sector producing 12.3% of the tax revenue ($5.6 billion) to the City.
Tech Sector Demographics
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White
%
Asian
%
African American
%
Hispanic
Overall, the New York City workforce is 44% white, 23% black or African American, 28% Latina/o and 15% Asian. However, in 2015 the STEM workforce was 69% white, only 6.5% black or African American, 6.7% Latina/o or Hispanic, and 16.6% Asian. The STEM workforce represents companies such as Google, Facebook, and Thompson Reuters that consider New York its home. These companies will need a steady flow of talent to remain competitive. Therefore, we will need to draw from the talent of all of NYC and develop a diverse and well-prepared cadre of emerging professionals to keep pace with the speed and breadth of our tech-enabled economy.
Code for Life Theory and Methodology of Change
Code for Life employs a theory and methodology of change that transforms the way young people view themselves and their future by equipping them with the life and tech skills needed to thrive in our new digital and data-driven economy. Code for Life is built on the following four-part framework: Neighborhood Focused, Blended Youth & Tech Development, Collective/Collaborative Approach, and Outcomes-Measurement Disciplined.
Together this framework facilitates impact in the lives of young people, the neighborhood, and our city.
Neighborhood Focused: Code for Life believes that proximity and becoming a part of the local social context is an important part of creating lasting impact. This focus develops the tech-ecosystem of the neighborhood and a pipeline of young coders!
Blended Youth & Tech Development: Code for Life has developed a unique approach that incorporates both youth and tech development embodied in our methodology of Life Coaching, Case Management, and Vision Casting.
Our Creator & Maker Training is comprised of two primary courses of Web Basics (HTML & CSS) and Coding Development (JavaScript or Python) with Agile Methods (Collaboration, Idea Development, and Giving & Receiving Feedback).
Collective/Collaborative Impact: Our collective impact approach benefits from local networks of schools and churches, and from the expertise of technology professionals committed to local youth development.
Outcomes-Measurement Disciplined: Our Creator & Maker Cross Training has specific and clearly defined Learning Objectives where we track student progress and skill development to improve our outcomes over time.
