$300K Kauffman grant will keep no-cost LaunchCode coding classes in KC another two years
February 22, 2019 | Austin Barnes
Sourced in community building through enhanced access to resources, a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation will allow LaunchCode Kansas City to continue its training program for at least two additional years, the program announced Thursday.
“It’s very exciting. We know that it’s, in part, through the vision of the Kauffman Foundation that LaunchCode could start up in Kansas City [in 2015] and that vision continues now — to help us build and grow,” Jeffrey Mazur, LaunchCode executive director, told a crowd during the graduation ceremony for the program’s most recent class.
Jeffrey Mazur and Kevin Kickham, LaunchCode
In total, the Kauffman grant will provide LaunchCode with $300,000 to help sustain the program, explained Kevin Kickham, director of institutional giving at LaunchCode.
“There are bootcamps out there that charge people — we don’t charge a dime,” Kickham said. “We are tremendously grateful that the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation believed in that mission and made it possible to get started.”
Click here to learn more about and to apply for coming LaunchCode classes.
A “cornerstone” of the program, LaunchCode might not exist if it weren’t for the open minds at Kauffman, Mazur said.
“We’re forever grateful for their deep and generous support,” he told the crowd in acknowledgement of the impact the grant could have on emerging tech talent in Kansas City.
Additionally, Mazur announced VMLY&R as the largest hiring partner of LaunchCode Kansas City.
Click here for more about how the ongoing partnership has impacted graduates.
“Without the folks who hire people from our program, the whole thing collapses,” Mazur said.
Such an acknowledgment is a reflection of the full-service marketing firm’s commitment to serving as a compiler for coding talent in the metro, he said.
Five of LaunchCode’s fall 2018 graduates began work at VMLY&R this week, the company said.
Thursday’s ceremony graduated more than 80 coders from the no-cost program — the first group since LaunchCode began a new on-campus partnership with Rockhurst University in 2018, LaunchCode said.
Rockhurst will continue to host LaunchCode classes, the university announced during the ceremony.
Featured Business
2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Fueled by $15M, MTC releases plan for boosting entrepreneurs: Here’s how KC is already seeing impact
JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri — Increased funding for the Missouri Technology Corporation will keep core support programs healthy through 2024, as well as help expand successful pilot initiatives designed to widen economic opportunity in the Show Me State, MTC officials said Tuesday. Among the new efforts gaining extended life through the announcement of MTC’s FY 2024 strategy…
This Kansas gardener sued to sell fruit and honey; Now her town will allow urban farming
Editor’s note: The following story was published by KCUR, Kansas City’s NPR member station, and a fellow member of the KC Media Collective. Click here to read the original story or here to sign up for KCUR’s email newsletter. Ottawa city officials are trying to strike a balance between people who want to produce food and the interests of their…
Godfrey Riddle wants to build you a home; How Civic Saint’s eco-friendly bricks could reshape the foundation of affordable housing
Winning $55,000 in a recent national LGBT pitch competition provides Godfrey Riddle the building blocks for a hard pivot — shifting the focus of his lifestyle company Civic Saint from handmade retail goods to earthen bricks used to sustainably create artful, affordable homes. “Affordable housing is a problem I’ve been pondering since my family lost…
KC Cattle Company steaks its reputation on wagyu hot dogs; Why this rural MO business enlists veterans on its new mission
WESTON, Missouri — Patrick Montgomery struggled to find his way after his service in the U.S. Army, he said. Now on a new mission — his venture KC Cattle Company — Montgomery is helping other veterans at a similar crossroads. “The military does some things really well and they do some things really poorly,” he…