Code2040 Fellows Are The Future of Tech

By Jardana Peacock, Code2040 Director of Development

I am here because I want to change the realities of my community.

I am here because I believe in making change.

The Code2040 Fellows are seated at a round table discussing why they want to work in tech.

Let me take you there.

The windows open up to a breezy summer day, the smell of salt from the bay interweaves with laughter and conversation, the sun pounds above.

In mid-June, fifty-three young people from across the country gathered in Oakland, California for Code 2040’s signature Fellowship program.

Do you recall the feelings you had when you were about to begin your career?

Travel with me.

For some, it is the first time they are making decisions about what they will be doing with their time: choosing how they will work, determining what kind of friendships they will build. They are at the precipice of the next phase of their lives.

Here we are.

We exist within an unjust system that continually disregards the basic humanity of youth, targets Black and Latinx young people, incarcerates over healing, ignores the houseless, pollutes the rivers, endangers salmon and other precious creatures. In all honesty, the journey into adulthood is challenging.

The economic reality for young people is bleak, and yet over this June weekend, the Code2040 Fellows expressed excitement, hunger, optimism. Mariame Kaba reminds us, “Hope is a discipline.” Hope is how Fellows engaged with antiracist leadership trainings, exercises that asked them to describe their participation in the future of tech. Over morning eggs, fruit and coffee, they strategized interview approaches, new internships, and how to decorate their first apartments in Seattle, the Bay, and Boston.

The Code2040 Fellows are immigrants with ties to community and family outside of the U.S. They are balancing their individual and familial desires to move from working class realities into greater sustainability. Through the Fellows program, they deepen their perception of themselves as change-makers who have the ability to make a difference in the tech sector and the world beyond individual gain. If we don’t invest in these youth, what will be the result? The same divide and conquer politics? The same racial inequities seeping into our new tech tools and replicating in every company board room and leadership decision? We need to change so much about this world. We cannot do it at once, and we cannot do it alone.

Code2040’s CEO, Mimi shared at the closing dinner: “Over the years the data from all of our programs at Code2040 show that connections with other Black and Latinx people are the #1 most impactful aspect of our programs. Creating community is how we get to inhabit the worlds we want to see as we build them.”

Let me take you there.

A sister and brother are dancing the bachata; the music changes and a group of twenty flow in tandem for the electric slide. Across from them, green leaves are attached on the wall with pen, noting hopes and visions for a different kind of future. Outside, the sun is setting tangerine, the water ripples as fish jump from the water. A group of young men are making silly faces for a photo. Three gulls call overhead. The space is alive with promises of who these Fellows will be and who they already are.

It is inside community where we create the world we need. Support early career Black and Latinx technologists as they shape the future of tech. When you support Code2040’s We Are The Future of Tech summer campaign, your dollars will be matched. Help us raise $50k in 50 days! Support more young people to experience joy and connection as they shape the future of tech.