This month, Hopeworks Web Associate Hien Nguyen began giving back to the community with her new skills by volunteering with Girl Develop It’s Up Program to teach web development to incarcerated women! Hien is a teaching assistant in the program while their Hopeworks supervisor and Web Director, Billimarie Lubiano Robinson, is teaching coding in the UP Program.
UP - Unlocking Potential of Underserved Women - began as a pilot program in December 2017 with funding from Capital One and Barclays. For the past year, GDI’s UP Program team has been going into Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution (BWCI) in New Castle, DE to teach beginner web development classes.
With limited access to relevant professional development, incarcerated women have the most to gain from learning 21st-century skills, especially web development, in order to provide them with more opportunities when they reenter society and the workforce. This innovative program was established to assist incarcerated women to: increase knowledge and awareness of technology, acquire coding and web development skills, enhance self-efficacy; and build confidence, hope, and an openness to try new things.
GDI believes that “teaching incarcerated women is fully aligned with our mission to provide accessible and judgment-free opportunities for diverse women from all backgrounds interested in learning web and software development...Among women prisoners, research shows that the rates of recidivism are high. Our goal is to support the students who return to society by welcoming them into our nearby communities to help them continue their learning and to get involved in a network they wouldn’t otherwise be aware of.”
Hopeworks is so proud the Web team and their desire to help others take control of their futures.
Learn more about this program on this GDI blog post from their first cohort in 2017.
Helping disadvantaged young adults in the U.S. to overcome barriers to economic opportunity and secured sustained long-term employment Hopeworks was founded in New Jersey in 1999 to help young adults overcome barriers to economic opportunity and build sustainable futures. Most participants do not have college degrees, and 99% of them are unemployed when they join […]
$1.2M Commitment from The Hg Foundation Enables Hopeworks’ Expansion into Two New Cities The Hg Foundation, a grant-giving charity focused on improving tech education and skills, today announced a new $1.2 million partnership with Hopeworks, a U.S. social enterprise that supports young adults into long-term living wage careers. The partnership will enable Hopeworks to expand its […]
Check out our Camden office full of energy, creativity, and hustle at our Pop-Up Shop Lunch Event! Our incredible young adults showcased and sold their original art, handmade jewelry, delicious food desserts, and so much more. From eye-catching booths to mouthwatering treats, every table told a story of passion, talent, and entrepreneurship. Proud to support […]
