Celebrate Code Platoon 2024: Empowering Futures and Expanding Horizons

On a warm September evening in Chicago, the River Room came alive with the sounds of celebration as we gathered for Celebrate Code Platoon 2024—a night as inspirational as it was impactful. With delicious food and drinks in hand, partners, alumni, and Code Platoon community members came together to support our mission of transforming the lives of Veterans and military families through the power of tech careers.

A Night of Milestones and Exciting Announcements

Thanks to the generosity of our attendees and corporate sponsors, we raised an incredible $105,496—funds that will empower Veterans, Servicemembers, and their families with generous scholarships as they prepare to launch their tech careers.

But the night wasn’t just about raising funds—it was about recognizing the strength of our community and the exciting road ahead. Code Platoon’s Executive Director, Rodrigo Levy, took the stage to share incredible milestones over the past year and announce an exciting expansion of Code Platoon’s mission: Code Platoon will now accept adult children of Veterans and Servicemembers into all of our programs! This bold expansion is a testament to our commitment to reducing underemployment and creating tech career opportunities for military members and their families.

Honoring Our Community

During Celebrate, we were proud to recognize Travelers as our 2024 Partner of the Year. Travelers has provided unwavering support of our mission through financial contributions and placing our graduates in software development positions within the company. 

“We have a longstanding commitment to supporting the military community, and it is an absolute honor to be recognized by Code Platoon for our efforts,” Jim McMahon, Director of Talent Acquisition at Travelers, said.

We also honored Greg Tutunjian our Volunteer of the Year for his invaluable contributions to the Code Platoon community—hosting free Agile workshops for our students and alumni over the last six years.

Ending the evening on an inspiring note, our alumni took center stage to share their military-to-tech journeys and how Code Platoon’s programs and community propelled their software engineering careers. 

“I come from a background in liberal arts and business, so I wouldn’t be where I am today without the strong technical foundation I built at Code Platoon… Code Platoon has grown so much since I first enrolled, and I’m proud to be an alumnus of this incredible program,” Roque Mesa, Army Veteran and Backend Software Engineer at JPMorgan Chase, said.

“Code Platoon gave me the opportunity to support my family in more ways than I imagined… I can be present for my children while still providing for my family. This would have never been possible without the foundation that Code Platoon provided me,” Tressa Sharma, Army Veteran and Software Engineer at Bodhi, shared.

Support Our Mission

Tressa and Roque’s stories of resilience and success were a powerful reminder of why Code Platoon exists: to equip Veterans and military families with the tools they need to thrive in the tech industry. We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of our community as we continue our mission.

If you couldn’t join Celebrate Code Platoon 2024 in person, don’t worry—there’s still time to make a lasting impact! Your tax-deductible donation will directly support Veterans and military families as they transform their careers and lives with our technical training programs.

Thank you for celebrating with us! 

Thida Sam is Code Platoon’s Director of Development. With a background in public service and the nonprofit sector, Thida is passionate about building impactful partnerships and driving sustainable social impact. A University of Michigan graduate, Thida lives in Boston with her children and spouse.