The Knowledge House (TKH) was founded in 2014 in New York to close gaps in education and employment in technology, specifically coding and design for people in the Bronx, New York. A decade later, TKH has expanded to Atlanta, Los Angeles and Newark, New Jersey. Through its signature Karim Kharbouch Coding Program (KKCF), students currently enrolled in high school as sophomores, juniors or seniors interested in learning code and design skills are offered the opportunity to participate in the program. Rolling out spoke exclusively with Newark resident Fernanda Somohano Ortega, a freshman in college at New Jersey Institute of Technology majoring in computer science, about how TKH has aided her studies.
“Before TKH, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do,” she said. “I was a junior in high school, so I was just figuring it out. But with the KKCF program, they helped me realize that tech was a good option for me, that it was something that I could do.”
“The Knowledge House is thrilled to scale our KKCF program during our 10th anniversary,” TKH Co-Founder and CEO Jerelyn Rodriguez said. “During this milestone year, we are excited to integrate AI foundations across all programming so that all TKH participants become even more competitive for the jobs of tomorrow.”
After graduating from high school last year, Ortega is back with TKH, this time as a part of the Innovation Fellowship, which is a program for those 18 and over. She didn’t think that she would be able to go to college directly after high school for financial reasons, but TKH stepped in.
“They helped me again,” Ortega says of the fellowship. “ They guided me and provided me with technical knowledge and career knowledge that I need to either apply or just enter the tech community.”
While only a freshman, Ortega has lofty goals.
“First I would like to get a master’s degree,” Ortega said. “My goal would be to get a full-time job in one of the fields like cybersecurity. I’m still figuring out which position. I would like to do something within cybersecurity, as this is my track at the Innovation Fellowship. I would like to work preferably in one of the offices in — I wouldn’t say Google because that’s, like, huge — but one of the big tech companies in New York and something with cybersecurity or maybe work at a startup.”
With the help of TKH, a master’s degree or job at Google for Ortega are realistic dreams.
For more information on signing up for the KKCF program in Newark, New Jersey, which has a deadline of May 27. For more information about the Innovation Fellowship, or any other programs in Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles or Newark, New Jersey, visit their website or email [email protected].
