Volunteers are the reason that any of the Refcode students succeed--both in the short term and in the long term. For every student who graduates, there is a whole team of volunteers who gave freely of their time, knowledge, expertise, and social capital in order to improve the life of someone who came into this country at a disadvantage.
Use the interactive tool below to learn more about different ways that you can help out.
All volunteers must go through an application, screening, and orientation process before officially joining up, but we have worked hard to streamline the process and avoid wasting your valuable time. You will fill out an application form to give us a little more information about you and your background, you will submit or transfer a background check, and participate in an orientation and any applicable onboarding trainings.
Attend class with students and help them work through the in-class projects.
A little coding experience is nice but not required as long as you're good with computers and a quick study. 3 hours per week.
Meet on Zoom with a small group of students to check-in, ask questions about homework and review lessons from class.
Some previous web development experience is required since you'll have less support than the class TAs. 1 hour per week.
Homework tutors will connect with a student one-on-one after class to help them with homework.
Some previous web development experience is required since you'll have less support than the class TAs. 1 hour per week.
Ensure there is always someone available to answer student questions on Slack quickly.
Ability to respond to slack messages with a sympathetic emoji or helpful clarification.
Participants who have completed the discernment class and want to persue a software career are assigned a dedicated mentor to guide them through the next decisions they will make.
You must have career experience in software. 1 hour per month for 6 months.
Hold scheduled zoom sessions for students to join to get help.
Web development skills required. 1 hour per week.
Extended network members commit to reading a regular email (less than once per month) to stay informed when students are searching for a job. Beyond that, you just need to keep an ear out for opportunities and share them with the community when you find them.
Some kind of professional or social network or any connections related to software hiring.
Donate laptops for students to use.
Macbooks in good condition that are less than 5 years old. Very limited use for Windows laptops.
Apprentice guides partner with a Refcode participant at a company and serve as a guarantee that the work will be done. Ideally this can be accomplished through guidance, pair programming, and coaching, but the guide may need to step in to write code if necessary.
Career experience in software engineering relevant to the apprenticeship. Additionally, the guide must be skilled at teaching and mentoring.
Tax-deductible cash or in-kind donations given to support participants in their journey to software engineering careers.
Cash or tangible goods
Join the monthly Refcode Meetup to connect with refugees learning code and be a part of our community.
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