22 Nov New Fellowship Program Educates Tomorrow’s Coders

The inaugural NYC Web Development Fellowship is now underway in the heart of the Brooklyn Tech Triangle, with 28 people – 16 of them Brooklyn residents – getting a fully-funded education to start a career in web development. The NYC Department of Small Businesses Services launched the program last month in an effort to provide top-of-the-line technology skills to the people of New York. The 22-week training program on web and iOS development is provided by experts from The Flatiron School.

“The city-funded program started with Mayor Bloomberg’s State of the City address in which he challenged the Department of Small Business Services to start a program to help adults to learn technology. We saw that web development is a place where there is demand in the job market,” said Andrea Mak, Senior Program Manager of Media and Technology Initiatives at the Department of Small Business Services.

The fall application process was open to residents over the age of 18 who were either unemployed or earning less than $50,000 a year. Studies are taking place at a newly renovated space at 25 Chapel Street in Downtown Brooklyn – a satellite location provided by the City.

Eligible applicants have never been employed as web developers, and prior to their enrollment, each accepted fellow attended a four-week pre-work program to ensure they had the same basic understanding to fully take advantage of the intensive program. Classes officially started last week, beginning the first of three in-person instructional units. The first unit focuses on programming fundamentals and working in a collaborative space. After six weeks, the students will move onto application building and specialization, followed by an in-depth, 4-week session on apprenticeships and job training. This includes exposing fellows to networking, interview skills, and workplace practices.

“The overarching goal at the end of the program is to get the fellows jobs. Flatiron has a proven track record when connecting their graduates with jobs, and that’s one of the reasons we contracted with them,” Mak said. “We’re also excited that the class is helping to serve veterans as well. The City is committed to supporting veterans returning to civilian life, and Workforce1 happy to aid in that effort any way we can.”

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