Are you keen on sharing your in-depth knowledge about coding with the world? Well, there are actually plenty of opportunities in the Bay Area, San Francisco. Despite the recent rise of website builders and ready-made themes where people can just download premium themes and get their website set up, coding programs are still high in demand to this date. Even with all the ready-made templates that do not require any coding knowledge, one should still learn how to code a website as it can be extremely useful even as you are using the pre-made website design themes. To help those of you that are looking for volunteering opportunities to teach others how to code, we’ve compiled a full list of all the resources and volunteer communities that are highly recommended.
1. Code Tenderloin
The Code Tenderloin is a non-profit workforce development organization with an aim to help underserved communities to secure a long term jobs in San Francisco. Their program is called Code Ramp which helps students to learn the basics of coding. The types of volunteer opportunities here include 1-on-1 tutoring on the weekends and a weekday classroom volunteer during the evenings. Most of the locations for volunteering are all across San Francisco.
2. MissionBit
MissionBit offers various computer science courses to help high school students that are from underserved communities to explore the possibilities of learning coding languages. They offer one-time volunteering opportunities as well as classroom ones. For classroom volunteers, you get to assist an instructor in a 1:1 project-based coding course. These volunteer opportunities are available during the mornings or evenings all across San Francisco, suitable for those that are currently living in the city.
3. Black Girls Code
This is a non-profit organization that caters to African-American girls that are looking to enhance their skills by taking up technology education courses. There are several one-off workshops that you could volunteer at various locations in Oakland.
4. Techtonica
They offer 6-months tech apprenticeships for women with the help of several tech companies that could eventually turn into a permanent job placement at the companies. The volunteers could sign up to be a 1-on-1 mentor or as a one-off volunteer that helps the apprentices for a few hours. This is only available in San Francisco.
5. #BUILTBYGIRLS
Catered to potential female leaders in the field of technology, #BUILTBYGIRLS is a community that connects industry professionals with young women from high school and above to provide them with some exposure in the tech industry. These young women will be taught to grow skills and build connections to help them become future leaders. You can sign up with their WAVE program, which is a mentor position whereby you will meet them once a month during a 3 months duration either at a physical location or remotely. There’s also a one-off volunteer opportunity, similar to “Speed mentoring” which is basically mentoring young women at several huge tech events.
6. Technovation
For girls who want to hone their skills in order to venture into being a tech entrepreneur or leader, Technovation provides this opportunity. Each year, they will invite a group of girls over to share common problems and ask them to solve them by working in teams. For instance, building a mobile app that helps consumers or a business plan, with the guidance of mentors. Volunteers are able to serve as a mentor and guide them throughout the process. The job scope as a mentor includes checking on their progress and making sure they are going on the right path and providing support or encouragement as they complete the project. The mentoring can be done either remotely or face-to-face.
7. Code For Fun
The volunteer opportunities offered here are for students from Kindergarten all the way up to High School whereby you will teach coding in a fun, interactive way as after school programs and camps. You could either teach during an after-school class or volunteer at one of their yearly programs. Take note that there is a time commitment of 2 hours a week for the after-school classes and 1 hour a week for the camps. There are several locations all around the Bay Area so you could look for the ones that are the closest to you.