Nonprofit expands its reach to Philadelphia in 2021; aims to provide free tech training

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A Boston based coding company called Resilient Coders is on a mission to expand its reach into the Philadelphia region.

Resilient Coders is a Black and Latinx led nonprofit that aims to train people of color from low-income communities for high-growth careers as software engineers.

"Del, our founder, started the company with the idea of bringing equity to our communities of color," said Leon Noel, who is the managing director of engineering at Resilient Coders. "Especially when we looked in Boston, we see the same things when we look in Philly, our communities of color have been hurting for a very long time.

Noel says the communities that Resilient Coders serve have double-digit unemployment numbers, which has been an issue he explains since the 1980s.

The South Philly native will lead this expansion effort along with the company's CEO David Delmar Sentíes. They both see this transition easier amid the pandemic with more remote-based opportunities.

"When you look around in Boston, you see a vibrant tech economy that is not serving the needs of its people because there's a gap that's required to get the jobs at those companies," Noel added. "Resilient Coders started as a way to help individuals in our community get the skills they need to become software engineers and unlock access to these high growth careers."

Noel says when he looks at Philadelphia, it's the same thing he sees within the Boston tech market.

"We can take individuals with no degree, no prior technical experience, and in 20 weeks give them the skills that they need to command a high growth job," he added.

In 2019, the six-year company states that 85% of its graduates found jobs averaging $98,000 in salary within six weeks of graduation.

Within their most recent graduating class, 13 of the 16 graduates have already obtained full-time employment at an average $99,000 salary.

Beginning in 2021, a pilot program with a class of 10 students ranging from ages 19 to 30-years-old, will begin in the City of Brotherly Love.

Over 20 weeks, the students are recruited through a process called 'hackathons,' where they'll later be introduced as the company's third cohort program.

These remote opportunities are often referred to as 'Resilient Bootcamp,' where the students learn all the necessary tech skills needed at no cost.

The company's motto is '100% free, never ask students for a dime.'

The participants also are provided a two-week stipend to accommodate the 12 hour training days, Noel says.