# CodeDay (Organization) Tags: #education #cs #organization CodeDay is a [[cs education]] [[nonprofit]] organization focused on helping students find their place in the technology industry which was founded by [[@edward jiang]] and run by [[@tyler menezes]]. ## Vision > We want all students to have the skills to use code as a means of creativity and making real, practical changes to their world. ## Cultural Values ### Do right by the students. (...even when it's hard.) Parents and administrators are important stakeholders we'll consider, but people have catered to their wants for decades. We are a voice for the students. We obsess over what students want (or don't yet know they want). Serving students is the lifeblood of our organization. ### Innovate from first principles. We're radically rethinking what education can be, to build a new system for our new era. We strive to start with students' needs and work backward rather than thinking about how to build on the framework we have now. ### Learn something new every day. We're united by a passion to learn and grow, both as individuals and as an organization. We share and celebrate these learnings with each other regularly. ### Ideas come from everyone. The best ideas come from the new perspective brought by a volunteer speaking up at a meeting, or a 3 am conversation with a CodeDay attendee. We make it a point to seek out new ideas and facilitate newcomers speaking up. ### Fight bureaucracy. Good process is a mechanism to become an incredible company at scale; bad process is bureaucracy. When we see a bad process, we take ownership to improve or remove it. We try to keep the decision-making power in the hands of those who are doing the work. ### Be authentic and accessible. It's easy to get people to like you with enough money and status, but in the long run, we'll have 100x the impact by solving problems with resourcefulness and authentic human connection. ### Say yes to fun. We're (at least) as fun and playful as the students we serve. Even when we're creating a spreadsheet or organizing a staff meeting, we don't take ourselves too seriously. ## Programs Timeline: ![[codeday-cadence-with-legend.png]] Programs work together in a timeline, building on project-based experiences at the earlier stages, and with people giving back to those earlier in the process: ![[codeday-program-timeline.png]] ### CodeDay See [[codeday (event)]] ### CodeDay Labs See [[codeday labs]] ## Strategy - Programs are repeatable and scalable, but with flexibility built-in to allow them to adapt to local culture. - Programs focus on hands-on, 1-1 interactions (i.e. [[mentoring]]) rather than 1-many interactions (i.e. classes or workshops). - Volunteers focus on high-leverage tasks, using technology to automate the boring parts. ### Strengths and Weaknesses CodeDay is good at: - finding, motivating, and retaining talented volunteers. - short-term _and long-term_ program outcomes. - word-of-mouth advertising among teachers and students. but has the following weaknesses: - PR is weak. - competition's beginner programs (classes/workshops/clubs) are more understandable to foundations and CSR, who typically fund beginner programs. - although many alumni are in highly-paid technology positions, almost none donate. - employees are not paid market rates and most are part-time. ### Funding Model | Source | CodeDay | Labs/Init | | ------------------------- | ------- | --------- | | **Grants** | 60% | | | **Student Services** | 20% | | | **School Services** | | 80% | | **Talent Services** | | 20% | | **Seasonal Sponsorships** | 10% | | | **Event Sponsorships** | 10% | | Notes: - Individual giving is usually so small that it does not factor in. (<$10k/yr) - There is a lot of interest in talent services for CodeDay Labs and it could grow quite a bit. ### Landscape ![[codeday-competition.png]] General CS education: - [[code.org (organization)]] - [[ncwit]] Activities: - [[mlh (major league hacking)]] - [[hack club]] - [[techtogether]] Education: - [[teals (microsoft program)]] - [[csta (computer science teachers association)]] - [[code with klossy (organization)]] - [[yellow (pharrell williams program)]] College Projects: - [[mlh (major league hacking)]] - [[codepath (organization)]] Many of these organizations provide dependencies for CodeDay, or rely on CodeDay: ![[codeday-landscape-skills.png]] ## Technology CodeDay uses a microservice and API-based backend, the primary interface for which is a [[graphql]] server available at [graph.codeday.org](https://graph.codeday.org/). This architecture was chosen for two reasons: - Microservices mean that volunteers can edit existing CodeDay infrastructure without needing to learn an extensive monolithic codebase, making contributions easier and safer. New services can be designed in any volunteer's language or framework of choice. - The API-driven design allows volunteers to design new frontends to connect to existing data without needing permission, and without significant re-engineering. For example, volunteers have built new Discord bots and command-line apps to interface to CodeDay services. Most backend services are written in Typescript, Javascript, or Python and hosted on fly.io: - advisors-gql: Queue for students requesting introductions to volunteers for resume feedback and practice interviews. Also collects student information on participation in programs, Github, job search goals, etc. to help match them with job opportunities. - calendar-gql: Aggregates CodeDay events from Google Calendar, and supports notification signups for upcoming events. - clear-gql: In-house event management and ticketing system. - discord-gql: Tracks posts in the show-your-work Discord channel. - labs-gql: CodeDay Labs application, admissions, matching, and management software. - showcase-gql: CodeDay and Labs projects/pictures submission system; event judging. - gql: graph.codeday.org Authentication and profiles are managed by Auth0, and most content management is handled through Contentful. Most frontend sites are hosted on Vercel and are written in Next.js. There are also several Discord bots, including Authbot (which handles account linking) and John Peter (which handles things like badges, cross-posting schedule announcements, and fun things). There are additional utility sites, i.e. pack.codeday.org which checks if a user has recently created a CodeDay/Labs project, and provides them access to the Github Education Pack if so. ## Volunteers CodeDay is made possible by hundreds of volunteers. There is a unified volunteer signup process where prospective volunteers can choose to apply for multiple programs and roles in one go. Volunteers, except for Labs mentors, are onboarded in monthly onboarding sessions depending on chosen roles. ## Board of Directors -[[@tyler menezes]]: Executive Director -[[@nikolas huebecker]]: Alum and Y Combinator/VC backed startup founder. [(LinkedIn)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nhuebecker/) -[[@anthony toreson]]: Mentor-alum and engineering leader. [(LinkedIn)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/atoreson/) -[[@tj horner]]: CodeDay alum and software engineer. [(LinkedIn)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjhorner/) -[[@fisher adelakin]]: CodeDay alum and software engineer. [(LinkedIn)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tmidao/) -[[@adele miller]]: CodeDay alum and cybersecurity engineer. [(LinkedIn)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/aamiller/) -[[@parag garg]]: CodeDay volunteer alum, former fortune 500 technology & product leader Former board members who provide occasional advice, and other advisors: - [[@charlie kindel]][(LinkedIn)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ckindel/) - [[@bob crimmins]] [(LinkedIn)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobcrimmins/) - [[@edward jiang]] [(LinkedIn)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/edjiang/) - [[@kevin wang]] [(LinkedIn)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinkw/) [^codeday-24hr]: CodeDay regularly runs _shorter_ events (sometimes called mini-CodeDays) at educational conferences or in partnership with other organizations -- the outcomes from these events haven't been studied. In 2012 CodeDay experimented with Friday-Sunday events to allow students more time to sleep, but most students stayed up the entire time and were miserable by the end.