Ballmer Group Invests $3 Million in CodePath
Ballmer Group has invested $3 million to expand CodePath’s mission to reprogram higher education and create the most diverse generation of software engineers, CTOs, and founders. Funding from Ballmer Group will allow CodePath to expand its beginner-level courses and create more entry points for Black students to pursue computer science, arming students with the knowledge and confidence critical to both complete a degree and achieve success in the tech industry.
Through this support, CodePath will also develop partnerships with community colleges in key regions where Black students reside and add financial literacy offerings to its Career Center services suite, bridging gaps for students and alumni navigating new income levels and employee benefits.
“As the largest pipeline and training provider for early career software engineers, CodePath is well-positioned to accelerate our impact in a meaningful way in the coming years,” said Michael Ellison, Co-founder and CEO at CodePath. “This investment from Ballmer Group is a testament to our outcomes and will help scale our position as a bridge between untapped talent pipelines and unmet employer needs — as a bridge between inequity and opportunity.”
To date, CodePath has trained nearly 20,000 students from a network of 500 colleges — and has active partnerships with 70 colleges and universities across the country, including 13 Historically Black Colleges and Universities. CodePath alumni work at 2,000 companies and are eight times more likely to secure job placement in a Fortune 500 tech company than their peers.
Over the next 20 years, three million new software engineers will enter the tech industry — and to reflect the country’s growing diverse population, one million Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous students must be launched into competitive technical careers.
“Expanding pathways to good jobs and careers is a cornerstone of economic mobility,” said Loren Harris, Executive Director of National Impact at Ballmer Group. “Securing a career in the tech industry continues to offer great opportunity for social mobility — that’s why we’re thrilled to support CodePath and their work to ensure more students not only have access to pathways into tech, but the skills and preparation to excel in those careers.”
Read more about how CodePath diversifies the tech industry by transforming computer science education.
About CodePath
CodePath is reprogramming higher education to create the most diverse generation of engineers, CTOs, and founders. With nearly 20,000 students and alumni from 500 colleges now working at 2,000 companies, we are reshaping the tech workforce and the industries of the future. CodePath is supported by Andreessen Horowitz, Blue Meridian Partners, Cognizant Foundation, Comcast, Google, JP Morgan Chase, Knight Foundation, Meta, New Profit Foundation, Salesforce, and Walmart, among others. To learn more, visit www.codepath.org.
About Ballmer Group
Ballmer Group is committed to improving economic mobility for children and families in the United States, funding leaders and organizations that have demonstrated the ability to reshape opportunity and reduce systemic inequities. We focus on multiple impact areas and systems that can impact economic mobility — such as early learning, K-12 education, college and career pathways, housing, behavioral health, and criminal justice — and we support leaders and organizations that focus on undoing systemic racism and the barriers it has created. Ballmer Group was co-founded by philanthropist Connie Ballmer and her husband Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft, founder of USAFacts, and chairman of the Los Angeles Clippers. Learn more at www.ballmergroup.org.