My Story: An Introduction to CodeNow’s Impact
Hey there. I’m Neal Sales-Griffin, CEO of CodeNow. We empower teenagers to solve meaningful problems with technology. I’d like to share my story with you to illustrate why you should care about our work.
As a mixed-race low-income kid growing up on the Southside of Chicago, I struggled to find my place in society. But with determination and help from a supportive family, I earned acceptance into Northwestern University, where I served as student body president and started multiple businesses.
After graduating, I discovered my passion for making software that helps people while working as an investor and entrepreneur in residence at a venture capital firm. Through this work, I realized the necessity of a technical skill set to be a successful business starter. I promptly abandoned my cushy post to learn how to code and design my ideas.
After a year of full-time personal study and practice learning software development, I made it my mission to help others do the same. In 2011, I founded The Starter League, one of the first coding bootcamps in the world. With this pioneering model, I’ve helped thousands learn to solve meaningful problems with software.
I believe we must provide the same opportunities that helped me succeed to as many kids as possible. I joined CodeNow as CEO to do just that.
I need you to believe that my story isn’t an outlier.
I’m tired of people telling me I’m lucky. I’m sick of people telling me I’m special, or that “I’m not like the rest of them.” I’m just a case study we can deconstruct, bottle, and share with thousands of people out there we can reach through our work.
I need you to believe we can provide the resources, pathways, and supportive environments to unlock the potential in every kid who’s willing to show up and give it their all.
At CodeNow, we’ve designed a program and curriculum where young people with no technical background can learn the fundamentals of how to build software. The ability to do so has many benefits beyond the prototyped web applications that get built. Understanding software development instills logical reasoning, communication skills, and confidence in navigating the new digital world.
Unlocking our students’ intrinsic motivations to solve problems for themselves, for people they care about, and in their communities through technology is an empowering ability to imbue in them. These skills are among the most valuable that today’s younger generation can obtain.
We believe the next step in the movement to promote computer science and coding is to address the broader spectrum of software development. This includes design and product management, but most importantly it addresses the WHY as much as the HOW behind coding.
Think about what you most enjoy doing, and how you discovered that it’s something you love. Now imagine unlocking that moment for someone else when they’re just a teenager. It’s life-changing.
CodeNow creates moments like this for thousands of people.
They need our support and investment to help them become future coders, designers, product managers, and entrepreneurs. We have to do more than arm them with pickaxes and say “go get a job.” It’s a disservice to dangle carrots like fancy benefits and fat paychecks. Harnessing young people’s intrinsic motivators will reveal how badass they are when they have a real problem they’re passionate about solving.
Now’s our chance to make a real difference. We hope you’ll join us on our mission.
There are many more stories like mine from our students we’d like to share with you here on Medium. For starters, check out Malcolm’s inspiring journey.
If you’d like to learn more CodeNow, just hit me up at neal@codenow.org.
Thanks!
Neal Sales-Griffin
