Dev bootcamp celebrates 5th anniversary
San francisco--(business wire)--dev bootcamp, the original immersive coding bootcamp, today announced that tarlin ray has been promoted to president to lead the company as it embarks on its next phase of growth. the new leadership change comes as dev bootcamp celebrates its 5th year in business and launches the dbc access fund to further its focus on increasing diversity in tech. ray has served as dev bootcamp’s chief operating officer for the past eight months and prior to that was vice president of business development and corporate strategy for dev bootcamp and its sister program metis, a leading provider of data science skills training. his promotion to president comes at a pivotal time for the bootcamp industry as it works to prove its effectiveness in an environment of increasing scrutiny from regulators and industry watchers, and while employers continue to seek innovative ways to close the growing gap between critical computing jobs and qualified technical employees. “this industry has evolved significantly over the past five years, and we’re at a point where bootcamps need to adapt or get left behind,” said ray. “coding bootcamps need to transform to meet the needs of employers and to better prepare students for the jobs of today and tomorrow.” when dev bootcamp was founded in 2012, it was the only immersive bootcamp addressing the need to broaden access to coding skills. in the past five years, the industry has grown from around 2,000 bootcamp graduates in 2013 to almost 18,000 graduates in 2016, according to data from course report. the competitive landscape has exploded with now 91 full-time coding bootcamps on the market and an increase in traditional higher ed schools like the university of california, berkeley and the university of texas, austin establishing alternative coding curriculum. as the industry undergoes even more changes, dev bootcamp remains focused on its original intent: to increase access to coding skills for students from a broad range of backgrounds and experience levels. and under ray’s leadership, the organization continues to adapt with enhanced curriculum, a reinvigorated learning experience and personalized career support for students. under ray, dev bootcamp is also leading the industry on forming partnerships with employers that are looking for creative solutions to hiring and training employees with solid coding skills. “at dev bootcamp, we’re working closely with employers to support their hiring goals by opening their pipelines to newer tech talent and developing training programs to groom that talent,” ray said. “this partnership approach will help companies lower the cost of recruiting and retaining skilled employees and will be key to the evolution of dev bootcamp in the months and years to come. further, we believe that people of all backgrounds should have access to careers in technology and that more diverse teams yield better overall products.” the appetite for working with bootcamps is bolstered by an acute pain point for employers: there are more than half-a-million open computing jobs in america today, according to code.org, and just about 43,000 computer science students who graduated in 2016. this foreboding talent deficit caused by a stagnant pipeline of traditional cs grads means employers find themselves in bidding wars for skilled and experienced workers. at the same time, employers are seeking ways to infuse more diversity into their teams through alternative pipelines of talent. to continue its support of employers’ diversity goals, further its own commitment to improving access to technology skills training for people of all backgrounds and build on the company’s momentum of diversity partnerships, dev bootcamp has launched its own self-funded scholarship program, extending an inaugural 24 full-tuition scholarships to students from communities underrepresented in tech through the dbc access fund. the 24 scholars will be evenly distributed across dev bootcamp’s six campuses, and among those eligible to apply are women or members of the gender-diverse community and those who identify as part of racial or ethnic communities that are underrepresented in technology, including black or african american, latinx, native american or pacific islander. applications opened on monday, april 17 and must be submitted by april 30, 2017. since 2012, dev bootcamp and its partners have committed over $2m in scholarships, and the dbc access fund will continue to build on the organization’s commitment to increasing diversity in the tech sector. about dev bootcamp dev bootcamp pioneered the short-term, immersive developer bootcamp, a model that grants people of all backgrounds and skill levels access to effective technical training. the 18-week curriculum with integrated career services creates technical aptitude along with the interpersonal skills that today’s employers demand. dev bootcamp is the first step on a student's continuing path to earning a meaningful long-term career in tech that might otherwise be unavailable to them. with more than 2,900 graduates to date, and locations in san francisco, chicago, new york city, san diego, seattle and austin, dev bootcamp immerses students in the supportive learning community they need to accelerate and shape their careers. dev bootcamp is owned by kaplan, inc. for more information, visit devbootcamp.com. note to editors: kaplan is a subsidiary of the graham holdings company (nyse:ghc).
