Built to change the face of tech
Ada Developers Academy is a tuition-free nonprofit coding academy. Since 2013, we’ve built a high-quality pipeline to careers in tech, removing barriers, cultivating community, and producing remarkable engineers who change their own lives and the teams they join.
“Ada Developers Academy didn’t just train me. It changed the trajectory of my life. The education I received at Ada was thorough, rigorous, and current. But what truly sets Ada apart is the ongoing support. Long after graduation, Ada continues to be a community of mentors, teachers, and friends. That’s rare. I’ve been through other bootcamps. None of them stayed in my life after the certificate was printed.”Cohort 18 Graduate
The State of Tech
Research shows that the underserved, underestimated, and under-resourced adults, remain significantly underrepresented in the STEM workforce, especially in computer science and engineering.
Ada Developers Academy exists to close that gap, not just by training developers, but by building a community where people who have been systematically excluded can find belonging, support, and long-term career success.
Sources: AnitaB.org, The University of Washington’s Center for Women’s Welfare
Bridging a Gap
Ada Developers Academy was co-founded in 2013 by Elise Worthy and Scott Case. Elise had been self-teaching coding and found the experience isolating and inaccessible. Scott was frustrated by how difficult it was to hire a diverse group of software developers. Together they built a program grounded in three principles: it would be tuition-free to attract and retain the highest-potential students regardless of financial means; the curriculum would go far deeper than other bootcamp programs to better prepare students for developer jobs; and a paid internship would be integrated into the program to bridge the gap between training and the workforce.
“I started self-teaching [myself to code,] and it was a really lonely experience… Lack of demand isn’t the problem … everyone deserves this. But with the systemic inequities there just aren’t as many options for women to get into this.”Elise Worthy, Ada Developers Academy co-founder
“We knew we couldn’t have people working on the side so we created a model that isn’t only tuition-free but we also give you a stipend so you can live and not have to have another job while you’re going through this big immersion experience.”Scott Case, Ada Developers Academy co-founder
Ada Developers Academy launched initially as a project of the Technology Alliance. From the beginning, tech companies, local organizations, and individuals were enthusiastic partners and remain critical to keeping Ada Developers Academy truly tuition-free today.
Ada Developers Academy opened its doors to 16 students. Even as a tuition-free program, we identified barriers to attendance and developed the Ada Loan Fund, a low-interest loan program in partnership with Craft 3, to support student living costs during the classroom portion.
Ada Developers Academy became a project of fiscal sponsor TSNE Mission Works to support organizational growth. The curriculum was built around full-stack web development with Ruby on Rails and JavaScript, a combination students found highly effective in the classroom and after graduation.
Ada Developers Academy expanded from 24 to 48 students per cohort and became the recipient of the TechHire grant, a Department of Labor initiative to fill growing open tech jobs. Ada Developers Academy also restructured admissions and programming to better meet the intersectionality of our students’ identities, creating a holistically inclusive learning environment.
The curriculum was transformed into a virtual learning experience. Students have the option to learn remotely.
Ada Developers Academy developed an AI curriculum in partnership with MIT Solve, integrating it into our flagship program. Students now have the opportunity to earn the Google Project Management Certificate with integrated AI skills, thanks to a partnership with Google and Social Finance.
To date, Ada Developers Academy has created more than $250 million in new salaries in the tech industry, generated by 1,200+ women and gender-expansive software developers and technologists at companies including Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, Google, and more.
“Ada Developers Academy is still one of the most important things I’ve ever been part of. I watched people walk in without a line of code to their name and leave as engineers. That kind of transformation has stuck with me.”Former Ada Staff Member
