Congrats, Oakland Hack the Hood Boot Camp Graduates!

HTH Graduates at Wednesday's Grad party.

With Friday marking the finale of our latest Hack the Hood six-week Boot Camp, we want to take a moment to honor everyone who made this session one of our most successful to date! Since HTH's start in 2013, we've seen our largest group of students,, graduating 46 web developers this past Wednesday at Impact Hub Oakland. Friends, family and community members arrived to a sold-out graduation party to honor the students who committed to themselves and the program, becoming young professionals in tech along the way.  

At the completion of Boot Camp, students leave with competence in technical, professional and leadership skills, hands-on experience working with local small businesses to create beautiful and functional websites, and a portfolio showcasing the work they've put in over the course of the program. At Hack the Hood, our mission is to improve access to well-paying jobs and training for low-income youth of color, introducing them to training and opportunities in the industry. For most students, this was their first experience with coding, and they showed tenacity and dedication in building these skills. 

We want to congratulate, and thank our graduates for inspiring their communities, mentors, instructors, each other, the Hack the Hood team, and most importantly themselves. This is just the beginning of their journey, and we look forward to seeing what amazing things they go onto achieve. 

To the mentors, volunteers, instructors ( MetWest and EOYDC cohorts), parents and guardians-thank you for encouraging and motivating our students to push forward and succeed. Your support has been integral to the success of our Boot Camp. 

To our supporters, program partners, community leaders and members, thank you for helping  bring Hack the Hood's mission a reality to hundreds of youth and young adults, helping us to expand in multiple communities within the Bay Area. 

Thank you to our event speakers:

Stewart Butterfield, CEO and Founder of Slack & Erica Baker, Release Engineer at Slack for beginning the evening with your words of encouragement. 

DeVaris Brown, former Product Manager at VSCO and tech evangelist, for connecting and engaging with our youth, sharing your personal and uplifting story to inspire how they too, can succeed in the tech industry. 

Udayan Sinha, Advising Council Member & Hack the Hood  youth mentor, for your continued work and support at HTH. 
 
Thank you to Blue Herron Catering for donating your time, service and delicious bites for attendees to enjoy on our big day. 

In celebration of OneLogin's recent campaign #ILookLikeAnEngineer to spread awareness and celebrate diversity in tech, we share with you our own photos of our latest graduates. These students represent the future of thought leaders, changemakers and innovators in the growing tech industry.

Graduates, stay in the loop with Hack the Hood post graduation at LinkedIn group page for youth, staff, mentors and HTH affiliates by clicking here. 

Not a Hack the Hood grad, but want to become one? Learn how to apply here. 

If you're a local small business, and would like to utilize our services and apply for a free website, find out more here. 

If you'd like to find out ways you can help support Hack the Hood and local small businesses, go here for more information.