Female Inmates in Georgia to Learn Coding and Technology

Female Inmates in Georgia to Learn Coding and Technology

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Thanks to a partnership between Code/Out and Arke, women in the Georgia prison system are getting a unique learning opportunity, thanks to a collaboration between Code/Out and Arke.

Code/Out is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing recidivism and poverty among incarcerated women in the Georgia penal system. Code/Out addresses this by teaching female inmates how to code and how technology can provide an edge in the workforce. The organization partners with corporations to build a network of employers who can help integrate women into the workforce.

Code/Out has partnered with Arke, a branding company that offers brand experience, journey mapping (helps companies understand the steps consumers make when deciding to purchase products), channel execution (building a brand on multiple digital and social streams), and technology implementation, for this unique project.

According to Indeed.com, coders in Atlanta can average $23.79 per hour, which is 9 percent above the national average. The cost of living in Atlanta is reasonable, at 1 percent below the national average, and the average salary is a healthy $59,125. With those figures, it’s easy to see how a coding job for a released female offender could radically improve her quality of life.

It’s not just the job skills that enable women to live and better care for their families. Along with making a living wage comes all sorts of opportunities for higher education, access to programs like sports and music for the kids (adults, too!), and the ability to connect socially and professionally in the community. Those connections lead to further work opportunities, social engagements, giving back, entrepreneurship, and relationships.

The simple, selfless acts of Code/Out and its corporate partners have a generational impact that affects the student, their family, and their community. The classes are a great strategy in the long-range plan to reduce recidivism and poverty across the city.

“Most of these women in prison are willing and capable individuals that just need the right education and opportunity to do something different,” said Hanna Hill, executive director of Code/Out. “In the United States, tech opportunities are more than double the national average. In Atlanta alone, there was an increase of 7.7 percent in the technology industry in 2015. The time is now for this initiative.”

It’s true. A look at Glassdoor shows a good variety of entry-level coding jobs in the city of Atlanta with starting salaries as high as $58K – $82K. Many of these positions come with the added benefits of medical insurance, life insurance, and vacation time. Some of the jobs required no prior or minimal experience – just a willingness to learn and engage in the corporate culture.

For many incarcerated women in America, their crimes resulted from a disadvantaged situation that saw them turn to drugs, prostitution, or theft to survive. The social inequality (colored/disenfranchised women are more likely to go to jail than Caucasian women and colored/disenfranchised women have less robust access to the same opportunities as Caucasian women in the workforce) creates a downward spiral for those not born to middle/upper-middle-class families. Companies like Code/Out and its corporate partners help to level the playing field and show that what incarcerated women need, more than anything, is education and a chance to use it. Given that, those women can and will change the world.

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