LaunchCode

LaunchCode

LaunchCode wins MIT Innovation challenge, $150K award

LaunchCode, a nonprofit that bolsters the tech workforces in St. Louis and Kansas City by offering free but rigorous coding courses, was recently recognized for its innovative approach to reinventing the future of work. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that LaunchCode is a grand prize winner of its 2017 Inclusive Innovation Challenge, awarding the…

‘Software is eating the world,’ LaunchCode instructor appeals to aspiring techies

Ambitious techies in the Kansas City area might soon have an opportunity to realize their aspirations with a course coming soon from the nonprofit LaunchCode. Based in St. Louis but with an office in Kansas City, LaunchCode aims to grow the tech workforce of select communities by offering programs to educate those eyeing a career…

Coty Beasley

Beasley: How will smart city infrastructure reflect KC’s aspirations?

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Reality is often stranger than fiction, and even harder to predict. Will our cities march toward the dizzying New, New York of Futurama’s 30th century; the harsh, crowded streets of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner; or even the consumerist, transhumanist society of Warren Ellis’…

From Slavic studies to coding, LaunchCode helps Kansas Citian find new career

It’s been in Kansas City only four months, but LaunchCode is already making an impact. The St. Louis-based non-profit organization arrived in February to grow Kansas City’s tech sector by organically building its pool of talent. LaunchCode helps educate locals with an interest in changing careers to work in tech, and then connects them with…

STEM

New STEM leader Martha McCabe wants to prioritize diversity

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Kansas City cannot continue to grow as a tech hub without first establishing a vibrant — and diverse — local STEM talent pipeline. As a community, we’ve put the wheels in motion. For example, about half of metro school districts now offer the…