In many ways, the scene was a familiar one at Hopeworks -- youth and community members, huddled over screens, learning to code and to use technology to change their lives. However, it was different than a normal day at Hopeworks for two key reasons.
First, it wasn’t just Hopeworks youth learning. As we do every year, Hopeworks opened it doors to aspiring coders from 6 to 60 to come and learn to code by participating in workshops led by Hopeworks alumni and volunteers from companies in the area, including EPAM, Subaru, Linode, Rutgers, OceanRingTech, and many others.
Second, coding wasn’t all that was in store for the day. In the afternoon, Hopeworks held its first ever pitch competition, awarding over $3,500 in prizes to Hopeworks alumni who have started their own businesses. The prize money came from the Thomas family, the family of a Hopeworks alumna, in memory of Aaron Thomas. When Aaron Thomas passed away, the family dedicated all donations in his memory to Hopeworks to support youth entrepreneurship. This pitch competition was the first step!
The alumni businesses pitched included marketing and design companies, web design services, and many others! You can see a video of the entire event here!
Check out pictures from the entire day here
You wouldn’t buy a fleet of Ferraris and skip the driving lessons.But that’s exactly what many companies are doing with AI. They’re investing in powerful new tools—enterprise licenses for ChatGPT, intelligent CRMs, custom copilots—but leaving employees to figure them out on their own. The result? Missed potential, uneven adoption, and a workforce stuck doing work […]
“Our collaboration with Dell Technologies and NVIDIA isn’t just about technology; it’s about genuinely empowering people. Together, we aspire to scale our success and extend opportunities to every underserved community we reach.” -Dan Rhoton, CEO, Hopeworks Learn more by clicking here.
Hopeworks, a Camden-based social enterprise dedicated to empowering young adults, has received a $75,000 matching grant from The Foxwynd Foundation. This significant investment is earmarked to expand the organization’s successful Recode Your Future initiative in Philadelphia and Camden, creating more pathways to financial stability through trauma-informed technical training and job placement. This is the second consecutive grant […]
