Three Local Candidates From Underrepresented Communities Awarded Engineer the Change Scholarship Awards Covering Complete Tuition for Intense 10 Week Program Training Software Engineers. Their Journey Will be the Subject of a Reality Video Series on Techstrong TV and Social Media.
Boca Raton, FL, April 13, 2022 — Techstrong Group, the power source for people and technology, and Boca Code, a coding school that provides comprehensive training in software development, today announced not one, but three winners of the Spring 2022 Engineering the Change Scholarship program. This Spring’s winners are: Carlie Ritchell Duperval-Dorlus, Stephanie Sanchez and Donald Bazile.
Started in 2020, the Engineer the Change Scholarship combines two goals that are core to Techstrong Group – making South Florida a world-class hub for the tech industry, and providing opportunities for individuals from underrepresented communities to acquire the skills they need for a successful career in tech.
The Engineer the Change Scholarship is awarded twice per year, once in the spring and once in the fall. Each recipient is given $10,000, covering the complete tuition for Boca Code’s flagship Software Engineering Course. The 10-week intensive coding bootcamp combines theory and hands-on, project-based learning that prepares students for a career in software engineering.
“This cohort’s group of applicants was the strongest yet. So much so that once we made the difficult choices to pare down to three finalists, the judges were not able to eliminate any of the remaining three, so we awarded all three finalists scholarships. They are an outstanding group, who I expect will become outstanding software engineers,” said Alan Shimel, founder and CEO of Techstrong Group. “We are honored to partner with Boca Code on this program. Also we are very excited that the public will be able to follow along with the scholarship winners journey via a video series on Techstrong TV and social media.”
“The candidates this cohort have demonstrated the potential to be future leaders and we are thrilled to award each of them the Engineer the Change Scholarship,” said Todd Albert, founder and lead instructor at Boca Code. “Research shows a staggering lack of diversity in STEM fields, most noticeably within computer and engineering positions. Our goal is to create a more diversified and equitable workforce.”
Past scholarship recipients have gone on to secure fulfilling careers in IT.
Alina Maliuk, a past scholarship recipient and software developer at SMArtX Advisory Solutions, says, “Winning the scholarship gave me a once in a lifetime opportunity to change my career. I knew I would have to work harder than I ever did in the past. The scholarship enabled me to fulfill a dream. I landed a job at a hot fin-tech software company on the day of graduation.”
“Winning the Engineering the Change Scholarship changed my life!” says Vitoria Roas. “I was a waitress before the pandemic hit, and now I work right here at Boca Code as an assistant instructor and staff engineer. I love my job because I get to assist other women and minorities.”
How To Apply
The Engineer the Change Scholarship is awarded to two deserving recipients on an annual basis. To be eligible, applicants must be over the age of 18 and be part of an underrepresented community (i.e. women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans or other minority groups).
To be considered, applicants are required to submit an essay detailing how they can serve as a role model to other disadvantaged individuals who are hoping to acquire the skills needed to become successful tech workers, and what type of career they want to pursue. While the idea is to help the South Florida tech community, individuals can apply from anywhere, as long as they include in their application essay why they are coming to South Florida to launch their tech career.
Important Dates and Deadlines for Upcoming Engineer the Change Scholarships
- Submissions for the fall 2022 scholarship open August 8, 2022
- The application deadline for the fall 2022 scholarship is September 1, 2022
- The recipient of the fall 2022 scholarship will be announced on September 8, 2022
- Fall term begins October 3, 2022 and ends December 16, 2022
- Submissions for the spring 2023 Engineer the Change Scholarship will open March. 1, 2023.
Additional Resources
- To learn more about how to apply for the scholarship, please visit: https://techstronggroup.com/engineer-the-change/
- To learn more about Boca Code’s different financing options, please visit https://bocacode.com/finance
About Techstrong Group
Techstrong Group is the power source for people and technology. Techstrong accelerates understanding of technologies that drive business. With a broad set of IT-related communities and offerings, Techstrong is the only media company serving the needs of IT leaders and practitioners with news, research, analysis, events, education, certifications and professional development. Our focus is digital transformation, DevOps, cybersecurity, cloud and cloud-native. Techstrong Group business units include: Techstrong Media, Techstrong Associations, Techstrong Research, Techstrong Learning and Techstrong Live!. For technology providers, Techstrong business units offer many ways to reach IT professionals and tell their story.
Techstrong Group is based in Boca Raton, Florida. For more information, visit https://techstronggroup.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
About Boca Code
Boca Code offers adults comprehensive training in software development using real projects for real companies to best prepare you for and help place you in a career in the tech industry. For more information, visit https://bocacode.com/ and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Contact
Techstrong Group
Rose Watson
[email protected]
Boca Code
Dr. Todd Albert
[email protected]