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Code Platoon Receives NIKE Fund Grant

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Code Platoon, a nonprofit working to transform veterans and military spouses into professional software developers through an immersive, educational boot camp and mentorship program, today announced it has received a $25,000 grant from the NIKE Fund.

This grant, recommended by the NIKE Fund through their Until We All Win portfolio, is intended to support programs that enable United States Military Veterans, their families, and their communities to thrive.

“Veterans and military spouses step forward to serve our country, and they deserve our help,” says Rodrigo Levy, founder and executive director of Code Platoon. “The impact of this generous grant from the NIKE Fund will help us create more opportunities for our students to learn and grow as software development professionals. We are proud to partner with NIKE to support our veterans and military spouses.” 

Code Platoon will use this grant to support both full-time and part-time program offerings. In 2020, four cohorts of students will learn the skills necessary to secure employment as software development professionals. They will also craft resumes, build LinkedIn profiles, and most importantly, join a network of professionals in Chicago and across the country who are committed to helping them establish and thrive in these new careers. 

Thank you NIKE Fund for supporting Code Platoon!

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Code Platoon Receives Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation Grant

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Chicago, Illinois – December 4, 2019 – Code Platoon, a nonprofit working to transform Chicagoland veterans and military spouses into professional software developers through an immersive, educational boot camp and mentorship program, today announced it has received an $8,000 grant from the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation.

The Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation awards grants each year to organizations, such as Code Platoon, with a focus area on digital inclusion, skills for the digital economy, innovation and entrepreneurship, and volunteerism and service, with an emphasis on programs serving diverse communities. Code Platoon will use these mission critical grant funds to thoughtfully and meaningfully grow its program to include increased professional certifications for every Code Platoon student.

“Veterans and military spouses step forward to serve our country, and they deserve our help. The impact of this generous grant from the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation will help us create more opportunities for our students to learn and grow as software developers,” said Rodrigo Levy, founder and executive director of Code Platoon.

“Comcast NBCUniversal is grateful to our military community for its dedication to our country,” said Gwendolyn McNutt, Comcast’s regional manager of External Affairs.  “We’re proud to support Code Platoon and its efforts to help local veterans and military spouses transition into the civilian workforce with technical training and career placement.”

About Code Platoon

Based in Chicago, Illinois, Code Platoon provides software coding training to help local veterans and military spouses find meaningful careers as professional software developers. While some veterans and military spouses do have four year degrees, the only requirements of enrollment are a deep desire to become a professional software developer, a positive work ethic, and a tremendous amount of tenacity. Each student is eligible to receive a scholarship that covers about 80% of their tuition making this career path affordable and attainable. Code Platoon also offers extra scholarships to women veterans who join the boot camp as they are historically underrepresented in technology based careers. Students can also use their GI Bill benefits to complete our program. The program consists of 12-15 students per class who spend 60-80 hours a week together for 15 weeks. Students are taught the Python and Ruby on Rails technology stacks, which are increasingly popular in the software development field. Instruction is a carefully curated mix of lectures, advanced coding training, and team projects, frequently culminating in a local paid internship. For more information on Code Platoon, please visit Codeplatoon.org. 

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About Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation

The Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation continues the work of the foundations founded by Comcast Corporation and NBCUniversal to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on the communities we serve. Its mission is to empower communities to thrive by helping to provide access to technology, relevant digital skills and training, and inspiring volunteerism and service. The Foundation invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on the communities we serve.  More information about how Comcast NBCUniversal supports the communities it serves is available at comcast.com/community.

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Code Platoon Featured on Working Nation “I Want That Job” segment

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Code Platoon’s team is always looking for innovative ways to spread the word about our program. Recently, our executive director, Rod Levy, and alumni Chad Mowbray, were interviewed for a segment through Working Nation entitled I Want That Job. Camera crews spoke with Mr. Levy from our classroom space in downtown Chicago and also traveled to Mr. Mowbray’s internship host, Motorola Solutions, to see him in action! 

Working Nation is a fellow nonprofit with a mission to tell stories about solutions to the jobs skills gap that is threatening to disrupt our economy. They are raising this critical issue to the level of a national discussion to reach people and entities that can affect change, to connect the dots for companies and communities looking for solutions to their own workforce issues, and to identify for workers and job seekers where the jobs of the future will be. 

I Want That Job is a digital series highlighting interesting jobs across the country, each offering a promising career path for early-career workers of all education levels. Code Platoon is honored to have been included during November 2019, when Working Nation is specifically focused on highlighting career opportunities for veterans and military families. 

You can watch the full interview here: https://workingnation.com/i-want-that-job-software-engineer-code-platoon/

Thank you to the Working Nation team for helping raise awareness about Code Platoon!

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Code Platoon Featured on Comcast Newsmakers

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Code Platoon’s team is always looking for innovative ways to spread the word about our program. Recently, our Executive Director, Rod Levy, was interviewed for a segment through Comcast Newsmakers.

Comcast Newsmakers is the longest-running news and public affairs platform of any cable operator in the country. Having launched in 1990 with a single production unit near the nation’s capital, Comcast Newsmakers today includes a national edition, regional production serving selected Comcast markets, and a growing digital presence. Centrally focused on issue-based conversations, Comcast Newsmakers welcomes regional and national trailblazers to discuss ideas, assess community challenges and progress, and inspire meaningful action. 

Mr. Levy was interviewed by Ellee Pai Hong, who currently serves as a host of Comcast Newsmakers in Chicago. You can watch the full interview here: https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2019/10/27/Rodrigo-Levy

Thank you to Ellee and the Comcast Newsmakers team for helping raise awareness about Code Platoon!

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America demands change in veteran suicide legislation

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Code Platoon is honored to work with the dedicated men and women of the military.  We believe that the well-being of those who do and have served should take utmost priority and we are grateful to see clouds of change.  In honor of our veterans in need and Mental Health Awareness Month, this post is dedicated to informing on that change which has been demanded by the people of our nation.

 

In the last 18 months, 24 tragic deaths at VA Medical Centers across the country have called attention the urgent need to strengthen support services available to veterans. While leaving an enduring  mark, the growing outcry for help is sowing seeds for new policy, research and access to mental health programs to better ensure that no veteran is ever left behind.

Executive order signed to help end veteran suicide

The National Initiative to Empower Veterans and End Veteran Suicide was signed by the President in March to focus on improving the quality of life for American veterans, with a focus on suicide prevention.

 

Co-chaired by the Department of Veteran Affairs, the executive order mandates the development of the Veteran Wellness, Empowerment and Suicide Task Force. Within 365 days of the executive order the task force will need to develop a roadmap to lower the veteran suicide rate, present to Congress a program to offer grants to local communities to help deliver services to veterans and develop a strategy that can help gauge research in the area of veteran suicide prevention.

 

“As the largest integrated health care provider in the nation and a leader in developing innovative mental health and suicide prevention strategies, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is uniquely positioned to co-chair this effort with the White House,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “Veterans suicide is a national public health issue that affects communities everywhere, and this executive order is a national call to action.”

New bill would force VA to report on campus suicides

Introduced by Rep. Max Rose, D-NY, an Army veteran, HR 2334 would require the VA to report on campus suicides and attempted suicides to Congress no later than seven days after the event.

 

Better known as the Fight Veteran Suicide bill, HR 2334 will require the reporting of additional veteran information to Congress. This information includes but is not limited to: the veteran’s status at the VA, the last encounter with the veteran’s current medical center, whether the veteran had private medical insurance, their age, housing and employment status. Rose believes by providing this additional information Congress will better understand veteran suicide and help provide a solution.

 

“It’s imperative that we receive not only basic information from the VA, but substantive data on this rising trend of veterans committing suicide at VA facilities,” said Rose, a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “Getting this data more quickly and thoroughly would guide Congress’ efforts in understanding this crisis, and preventing these tragedies. We must ensure all veterans have the services they need when they need them, plain and simple.”

 

Congress has found that the VA is not always forthcoming with information regarding to the tragedies happening on VA Medical Center campuses. Rose and the House of Veteran Affairs Committee hope the mandated information will help Congress understand what is happening to veterans across the nation and create better suicide prevention.

Senate legislation to increase access to veteran mental health care

Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act has been introduced in the Senate by Senators Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.). S- 785 is an aggressive bill designed to give veterans access to the mental health care facilities and treatment they need. The bill hopes to increase the VA workforce, give veterans access to alternative solutions, and increase mental health care for rural/hard to reach veterans.

S-785 will improve VA outreach in five different ways.

  1. Aid the VA workforce and give direct hiring authority for mental health providers. It will also place a Suicide Prevention Coordinator at every VA Medical Center.
  2. Improve access to mental health care for veterans living in rural areas. Create more telehealth sites for veterans to access and give grants to non-VA organizations that provide mental health services to veterans.
  3. Automatically enrolls transitioning military personnel into VA mental health care for one year after service.
  4. Study, invest and innovate in alternative treatments like support animals, outdoor events, yoga, acupuncture, and meditation; give greater access to these types of treatments to veterans.
  5. Hold the VA accountable for its suicide prevention efforts, management of Va resources and information sharing with veterans seeking mental health care with both the VA and outside providers.

The bill aims to improve accountability of the VA regarding veterans suicide and suicide prevention measures. According to a report by Stars and Stripes, The Government Accountability Office found that the VA was only spending 1 percent of their budget on suicide prevention in fiscal year 2018. By September, the last month of the fiscal year, the VA only spent $57,000 of its committed $6.2 million.

Bipartisan legislation helping end veteran suicide crisis

Across the country, approximately 22 veterans commit suicide each day. Inexplicably, it has taken a spike in recent adverse events to spur the country’s leadership. Veterans everywhere need the help and support of family, friends and community to get through these invisible wounds they carry around daily. Having new programs emerge because of these events provides hope for the plight of many veterans in our nation.

 

Veterans who are in crisis or having thoughts of suicide, and those who know a Veteran in crisis, can call the Veterans Crisis Line for confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Call 800-273-8255 and press 1, send a text message to 838255 or chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat.

Big tech firms are going all-in on green

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Earth Day is a national holiday that was inaugurated in 1969 at a UNESCO conference held in San Francisco. Every year since, earthlings worldwide have dedicated April 22 as a day for environmental renewal, through local initiatives like planting trees and cleaning parks. While that intention has not changed over the past 50 years, the technology that is relied upon to get the job done has — dramatically. Let’s look at a few examples of how tech is keeping Mother Earth greener today.

Apple increases iPhone recycling in an effort to lower carbon emissions

Apple’s dream is to produce consumer products from 100% recycled materials. With this lofty goal in mind, attention is being drawn to Apple with the opening of a new e-recycling plant in Austin, TX.

In an Apple press release, the company boasts of their environmental plan to create all new products from recycled materials. The first step in that plan was revealed last year with the release of Daisy. The 33-foot robot has five arms with the sole purpose of dissecting 15 different kinds of iPhones. Everything from the 2012 iPhone 5 to the 2018 iPhone XS can be disassembled after a consumer gives the phone back to an Apple Store or a Best Buy as part of the Apple Trade-In program.

Their newest announcement by Apple was the 9,000 sq. ft. e-recycling facility in Austin, TX. Dubbed the Material Recovery Lab, the facility is built entirely around a Daisy. This facility is where academia and scientists are welcome to help Apple redesign the way we recycle electronics.

To date, Apple has received 1 million products through its network of trade in programs. Each Daisy is capable of disposing of approximately 200 iPhones an hour; that’s 1.2 million phones a year. In 2018, Apple refurbished 7.8 million devices, saving close to 48,000 metric tons of electronic waste from the dumps.

Because of this significant change in the way Apple does business, they have been able to lower the carbon footprint of several products still in production. The latest Macbook Air and Macbook Mini have half the footprint of their predecessors. This result comes from innovation and engineering of 100% recycled aluminum alloy. This alloy is recycled with the help of Daisy, and used in the manufacturing of the latest Macbook models.

It is because of these triumphs, that the Materials Recovery lab has been born. Apple hopes to continue to expand their electronic recovery procedures into the future resulting in a 100% recycled new product.

Microsoft empowers environmental scientists with AI for Earth

AI for Earth is Microsoft’s way of giving back to the environment. The grant program is designed to give computing resources to environmental scientists and organizations working on earth friendly programs.

Scientists and organizations are offered two main grant categories: Data Labeling Services and Azure Compute Credits. In addition, the applicants can specialize in four environmental sub-categories: agriculture, biodiversity, climate change, and water.

Data Labeling Services allow organizations to create key data sets in one of the four environmental sub-categories. All data sets that are labeled through the grant program are hosted on Azure and made publicly available to other organizations and individuals for training models.

Azure Compute Credits are available if you have access to a labeled dataset and are ready to start computing in the cloud and accessing Azure AI tools. The participant will get a denomination of Azure compute credits to be used for the cataloging and computing data in Azure software.

Examples of projects funded by Microsoft’s AI for Earth include using artificial intelligence for forest mapping, fighting extinction, increasing crop production, using insects and drones to track emerging diseases and even to help fight poaching. When human ingenuity and technology converge, great things are bound to happen.

Technology can save the world

With advances in technology and AI, humans can do what was once unimaginable. The research being accomplished by both, Microsoft and Apple, is a testament to human ingenuity. For veterans, an opportunity to contribute represents the next frontier in the battle against humanity’s existential threats. We look forward to seeing the new and wonderful things that can be produced by these organizations and the people who are empowered by them.