Launch Pad

Austin, Texas is one of the hotbeds of startup and innovation in the country. Google, Apple, Facebook, AMD, Cisco and Amazon are just a few of the large-scale data and tech-driven conglomerates that call the Central Texas city home. Despite a notable claim to attracting new talent to the once sleepy capital, the region is facing an underlying crisis: a lack of locally produced talent to fill the demands of the numerous tech positions across the region. Companies continue to source technical talent from outside of Texas and abroad, and as the explosive (and consistent) growth of the area would indicate, the pace is far from slowing down.Code2College, a not-for-profit entity, aims to teach high schools students the necessary skills to land tech jobs that would normally go to outside talent. According to their site, there's "a population of students in Central Texas who remain under-served. Facing a talent surplus and opportunity deficit, many girls, students of color and low-income students lack two of the most