Code Crew creates new opportunities through coding

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Courtesy of CodeCrew.co

They say it is best when couples do things together, and when Jamal and Felicia O’Garro found themselves on the unemployment line after losing their jobs in the corporate world, they were united in a need to seek new opportunities. Little did they know that it would be a blessing in disguise, as it was the foundation of the launch of Code Crew. Rolling out spoke exclusively to Jamal and Felicia about Code Crew and the many things they are doing to expand opportunities for African-Americans and women in the world of technology through coding.


“We both were looking to get back into the workforce. We both had gotten laid off. There weren’t many jobs and we were looking to change careers,” Jamal said, adding that the educated couple contemplated going to business school.  When that option seemed distant, the couple decided to head in a different direction.  “We were both into tech,” and the couple started to buy programing books to teach themselves how to code.


Perhaps the biggest move the couple made was the decision to start a Meetup group to connect with locals who were also passionate about coding. The couple was expecting a small number of people to respond, but instead the number was in the hundreds.

Fast forward to 2015, and Code Crew has over 5,000 subscribers to their weekly newsletter and over 1,000 paid clients. Armed with knowledge that was self-taught and the desire to educate women and people of color, CEO Jamal and COO Felicia aim to add much-needed diversity to the world of technology, with an emphasis on coding.


Jamal and Felicia are doing great things, and have partnered with companies like Microsoft and Uber, provided software engineering training at the United Nations, and recently were at the White House for the first-ever Tech Summit. I had to ask the couple if they had the chance to interact with President Obama, but he was hosting a foreign dignitary while the summit was taking place. But the pair would excitedly welcome a call or a meeting with the President and at the rate they are going, a meeting with President Obama seems destined for the founders of Code Crew. Learn more at CodeCrew.co

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