We are excited to announce the latest recipients of our We Stand Together Scholarship: a scholarship for students who identify as Black or African-American and are interested in our part-time or full-time immersive programs.
Last year, Galvanize announced the launch of a $1.8m “Opportunity Fund” to fund full, partial, and deposit-level scholarships for students who identify as Black or African-American in our full-time and part-time immersive programs in Software Engineering. According to Pew Research Center, Black workers continue to be underrepresented in the STEM workforce, making up 11% of the U.S. workforce overall but only representing 9% of STEM workers.
To help plan for a more equitable future in tech, Galvanize is proud to offer the We Stand Together Scholarship for students who identify as Black or African-American. This scholarship is for our 19-Week Software Engineering Bootcamp with JavaScript and Python.
Learn more about the recipients below!
Petrina Cruz
Petrina was raised in San Francisco and although she has been lured away on a few occasions, she keeps coming back to the city that she calls home. For several years she has worked in Operations and Marketing for start-up and mid-size tech companies around the San Francisco Bay Area. She is new to software engineering but has always enjoyed working with software development teams in her previous roles and is looking forward to this new challenge. In her free time Petrina reads, takes long walks around the City, and catches up on what she’s been missing on Netflix. She is very excited to be enrolling at Galvanize/Hack Reactor.
Aden Gideon
Aden Gideon is a first-generation American who grew up in Northern Virginia. She graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in African American Studies and Journalism. (Go, Owls!) Aden very recently completed the Intro program at G|Code House, a 10-week program designed for younger female and non-binary folks of color to uncover interest and aptitude in tech. She’s excited to continue her journey into tech with aspirations of creating spaces and opportunity for Black women like herself. When she’s not learning how to code, she enjoys photography, capturing people and places in their essence, baking her favorite desserts, and spending time with her loved ones.
Tiffany Odom
Tiffany Odom is a California native who grew up within the foster care system in the Bay Area. She earned a BA in psychology at San Jose State and worked in childcare. The pandemic has encouraged Tiffany to step outside her comfort zone and pursue a career as a software engineer. She wants to use her new skills to fulfill her civic duty to her community by promoting personal and group success. Learning how to code opens doors and can have an extensive impact on the life of someone struggling with poverty. Her goal as a future software engineer is to mentor and encourage minorities and disadvantaged youth to pursue professions in tech so that they can acquire an improved quality of life.
Portia Jones
Portia Jones is an MIT graduate and former track athlete. After gaining some professional experience, she sought to develop a more tangible skillset as a software engineer. She hopes to use her new skills to support projects that can have a positive impact on local communities, with a focus on housing for the homeless. Her first-hand experience with homelessness as a child drives her to want to help children experiencing similar challenges. After all the tensions 2020 has revealed within America, she hopes to help people understand more about what unites us rather than what divides us to promote inclusivity within our country.
Meleya Berhanu
Meleya is from Las Vegas, is Ethiopian-American, and is looking to change her career. Meleya has a nursing background but has found herself gravitating towards the technology field. She is eager to start her journey with Hack Reactor and is excited to be able to use technology to help others. Meleya is thankful for this scholarship and for being a student at Hack Reactor.
More about Galvanize Scholarships
Interested in applying for a full-tuition scholarship? Galvanize offers the We Stand Together Scholarship and the Galvanize Scholarship; you’ll find more information on our scholarship website.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us at scholarships@galvanize.com.
