What Does LaunchCode Do?
LaunchCode is a nonprofit offering free tech education and job placement opportunities to bring new people from all backgrounds into the tech field and reshape the way employers think about hiring. We pave accessible pathways for St. Louisans of all backgrounds and experiences to pursue well-paid careers in technology, while also helping companies recruit diverse, driven, homegrown tech talent that add to the economic vitality of the Greater St. Louis region.
We offer our flagship Software Development and Data Analysis courses to hundreds of St. Louisans annually, and help connect graduates to tech apprenticeships and careers through our job placement services.
Who does LaunchCode Serve?
LaunchCode's participants come from all walks of life, but are connected by their passion & drive to advance their careers in technology, as well as their aptitude for problem solving. LaunchCode focuses on enrolling individuals who exhibit the potential to succeed in a tech career, but have been shut out from this growing workforce sector because of the cost of tech education and/or because they come from demographic groups that have traditionally been undervalued in the tech workforce.
We focus on removing the cost of tech education and building a supportive learning community so that these individuals can pursue careers that offer economic self-sufficiency and significant opportunities for advancement. Not only does this work help individuals and families thrive and begin to give back to communities in which they live & work, but it also changes the way companies approach tech hiring, encouraging them to adopt more inclusive practices to diversify their tech teams.
LaunchCoders are often a better match for open tech roles at growing companies than folks coming from more traditional programs. They bring a variety of professional backgrounds and prior work experiences that are both useful and far less common in recent university Computer Science graduates. When enrolling for our courses, we focus on serving individuals who may have felt discouraged or prohibited from pursuing careers in technology due to their gender, race, income and/or educational background.
In the past five years, LaunchCode's St. Louis program graduates represent the following demographic groups:
- 62% People from low-to-moderate income households
- 61% Women
- 51% People personally earning less than $30,000 annually
- 45% People of color
- 38% People without a 4-year college degree
- 35% People who are unemployed
- 22% LGBTQIA+ people
- 6% People with a disability
- 4% Nonbinary / Gender non-conforming people
- 3% military veterans
What Impact Has LaunchCode Had In St. Louis?
Since 2013, LaunchCode has helped 3,700+ St. Louisans complete our intensive, industry-aligned tech training programs, and has rocketed nearly 2,500 St. Louisans into tech careers with family-sustaining wages and benefits - all at no cost to our participants. On average, these community members have come to us personally earning an average annual income of $22,946, and by the time they complete our course and land their first tech role, they are earning an average starting salary of $61,279. According to our 2024 Alumni Survey which engaged over 800+ LaunchCode alums, our graduates typically earn a promotion within 1.2 years on the job and earn more than $100,000 annually after five years of working in the tech industry.
In regards to the impact LaunchCode leaves on the greater metro region, a 2022 Saint Louis University (SLU) Urban Planning and Development program study identified that LaunchCode's work generates $168,000,000 annually in positive economic impact for Greater St. Louis.
St. Louis LaunchCode graduates have started tech careers with more than 500 employers, including:
- top hiring partners like Centene, Mastercard, Cigna, Boeing, Anheuser-Busch, Broadcom, World Wide Technology, Edward Jones, Charter Spectrum, Accenture, and Equifax.
- government entities like the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the NGA, the City of St. Louis, the REJIS Commission, and St. Louis County Department of Public Health.
- educational institutions like Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis Public Schools, Saint Louis University, St. Louis Community College, Pattonville School District, Rockwood School District, and Special School District of St. Louis County.
- startups and other growing privately-held companies like Balto, Blue Stingray, Capacity, Decide, FinLocker, Geneoscopy, KNOWiNK, Notoros, and Tallyfy.
- nonprofits like Arch Grants, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Connections To Success, Epworth Children & Family Services, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, Justine PETERSEN, St. Louis Children's Hospital Foundation, St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU, and the United Way of Greater St. Louis.
