Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in Action
Saturday, November 5th, 2022
Inclusion, Diversity & Equity in Action
Powered by Code2College
The IDEA Awards
The Code2College IDEA Awards celebrate the impact of Code2College volunteers and corporate partners on our students, who handpick the individuals and companies they believe showcase an outstanding commitment to furthering Diversity in STEM.
Five of the seven award categories are based entirely on student nominations that are submitted as short essays in recognition of the impact that the mentorship, guidance and training has made on their lives, as well as their academic and professional trajectories.
Terry P. Mitchell (Co-Host)
An Austin-native, Terry is a highly active community leader and entrepreneur with a passion for social impact and diversity, equity and inclusion. She has lent her sought-after business acumen to numerous Fortune 500 companies, founded numerous
organizations and businesses, including the Austin-based Black Leaders Collective, and was appointed as Commissioner of the MBE/WBE Small Business Procurement Office.
On top of these accomplishments, Terry is COO of E & Co Tech, a publisher at
The Austin Socialite and co-owner of Austin Woman Magazine. Expertise in the areas of strategic planning, business development, mentorship, marketing, management and public affairs.
Marlene Mora (Co-Host)
One of the very first Code2College students, Marlene is the very mission of Code2College personified. After her Code2College courses, she landed software engineering internships at Q2 and Microsoft and pursued a Computer Science degree at the prestigious Georgetown University.
Now a college senior, she has left quite an impact at her soon to be alma mater – she is student
director of her campus’ Common $ense group, co-president and co-founder of ColorStack Hoyas and offers tutoring to other Computer Science students of color to help support them on their path to a STEM career. Recently accepted a full-time offer at Microsoft.
From its inception just six years ago, Code2College has humbly served nearly 2500 students. Over 250 of those students have been placed into paid, career-defining internships in Software Engineering, Mobile App Development, Embedded Systems, IT, and many more.
Of the students we serve, 76% are proudly Black and Latinx identifying, and over half are women and/or economically disadvantaged, with 40% being first generation college students.
The majority of these students go on to pursue undergraduate STEM majors and successful technical careers upon completion of theirCode2College courses.
Wielding the success and promise of the Code2College model, we are determined to scale this impact throughout the whole of Texas.
We are thrilled to share the launch of our Texas 2000 initiative – our next bold step to place an additional 2000 diverse high school students from Texas into paid technical internships while they are still in high school by year 2026.
This initiative will catalyze tremendous economic, social and professional opportunities for our students’ communities and the broader STEM ecosystem.
Code2College’s growing impact is only possible through the collaborative and generous support of our local and statewide communities. To expand our life changing work, we are raising 10 million dollars for the Texas 2000 and calling on our Texas leaders in tech to help us bring this initiative into reality.
At IDEA Awards, we will celebrate the volunteers and partners who made our impact possible while also generating critical funds for the Texas 2000 initiative.
We are thrilled to share the launch of our Texas 2000 initiative – our next bold step to place an additional 2000 diverse high school students from Texas into paid technical internships while they are still in high school by year 2026.
This initiative will catalyze tremendous economic, social and professional
opportunities for our students’ communities and the broader STEM ecosystem.
Code2College’s growing impact is only possible through the collaborative and generous support of our local and statewide communities. To expand our life changing work, we are raising 10 million dollars for the Texas 2000 and calling on our Texas leaders in tech to help us bring this initiative into reality.
At IDEA Awards, we will celebrate the volunteers and partners who made our impact possible while also generating critical funds for the Texas 2000 initiative.
In June 2020, Code2College launched Vision 2024; a bold initiative to place 200 “Legacies” – what we call the Black and Latina girls in Vision 2024 – into STEM roles by the year 2024.
Code2College Vision 2024 is focused on the identification, recruitment, preparation and workforce placement of women who have the talent and potential, but historically and currently lack the access to pursue these high-need, lucrative careers.
Vision 2024 Mentors meet with high school and undergraduate Code2College students and alumni with an interest in STEM. Through monthly check-ins, mentors offer support in professional development, technical, and personal growth topics including resume help, college essay support, technical skills, mock interviews and insight into the careers that Vision 2024 legacies are interested in.