As Miami’s tech scene booms, CodePath keeps local in the loop

The tech industry had long been visible in the city, functioning at a low hum as its ecosystem seemed to expand by the month. But when the pandemic arrived, the traditional gears of the local economy suddenly ground to a halt, and tech was one of the only functioning industries left. As Florida opened back up for business quickly compared to the rest of the country, tech moguls announced one by one that their companies would be moving to Miami, if only for the short term.

If the local tech sector was used to operating as a low hum, this was its chance to sing.

Many locals wanted to welcome the industry, yet they held their reservations. They worried that the economic inequality and unaffordability that have plagued Silicon Valley and San Francisco would be replicated in Miami.

“I felt that anxiety too,” said Victoria Angulo Springer. She didn’t want locals to see a widening economic disparity gap, which she feared could push many out of town. “ We wanted Miami’s growth to be centered on the people who are already there,” she said.

Angulo Springer started working at CodePath, a nonprofit that delivers free, industry-vetted technical courses and career support to first-generation and low-income college students and early-career talent in March of 2020, at the onset of the pandemic. Today, the Miami native is the  Director of Regional Development for the nonprofit, and she has spent years making sure her fellow hometown residents could benefit from the new economic force sweeping into town.

As campuses opened back up, Angulo Springer set up tables with donuts at Florida International University to tell students about courses offered by CodePath that could help prepare them for South Florida’s shifting labor prospects. One-off connections grew into relationships with tech-focused student groups like INIT, which is supported by Knight Foundation.

“ It started very student-focused and student-led,” said Angulo Springer. “ It was really a story of connecting in person live with students, sharing with them. As they completed the courses and spoke to software engineers for the first time, and we took them to tour major companies’ offices for the first time, or they connected with an American Express engineer, they started to get those internships.”

Initial coding courses offered by CodePath at FIU were not for-credit. As demand increased organically, the courses were eventually eligible for credit, creating even more of a buzz through a growing partnership with FIU.

“ The alignment was there,” said Bridgette Cram, the Vice President for Academic Affairs & Student Success at FIU. “It was the intentionality behind them helping the students get the career skills they need that aligns with what FIU is trying to do for every student.” Employment after graduation is the goal for the university that graduates more Latino students than any other university in the nation. The school has been ranked number one in the nation for economic mobility.