PROVIDENCE – Arnell Milhouse, founder of the tech education nonprofit IntraCity Geeks, has launched a new for-profit arm of the organization called CareerDevs Computer Science Academy and an affiliated entrepreneurship and accelerator program.
Beginning this month, CareerDevs will accept students at its three locations in Providence, Boston and New York, according to a May 17 release. The academy will offer rigorous training in computer science and software development based on JavaScript and other advanced programming languages and technologies.
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Milhouse, who has taught computer science in Rhode Island for the past year including Harvard University’s CS50x course, said the CareerDevs academy would be project-focused and include curriculum reviews to ensure that students emerge from the course ready to build projects of their own, rather than being overwhelmed by the course material.
The goal of CareerDevs in Providence, Milhouse said, is to help new tech business grow and yield more jobs, innovation, patents and growth for Rhode Island.
“The master plan is to reboot domestic markets via disruption fueled innovation,” said Milhouse. “And, Rhode Island is the perfect place for a high-tech industrial revolution that gives people the ability to chart a path to the middle, upper or wealth-class. My life is the perfect example of how technology can help people pivot from poverty to prosperity. Now it’s time to replicate the IntraCity Geeks and CareerDevs model at scale.”
The launch of CareerDevs is a collaboration between Milhouse and his partner Clifton Choiniere, and funded in part by a grant from the R.I. Department of Labor and Training in partnership with OIC of Rhode Island.
Exceptional academy students who develop a viable project prototype will be invited to continue their education at the CareerDevs Startup Incubator, where they will study entrepreneurship in the style of Silicon Valley and Ivy League institutions such as Brown University, Harvard and MIT.
The CareerDevs Startup Accelerator has already launched several fledgling companies, including Common Connect, an app that would allow users to find and connect with people who have similar interests based on their location, and CrowdSigned, an analytics company that uses data to drive a market for crowdfunding in the music industry. Choiniere is the lead developer for both companies.
Milhouse announced the launch of CareerDevs during his appearance at Google’s New York office on April 17, where he was invited to deliver a presentation as part of the “Talks at Google” series.
In his talk, Milhouse recounted his life story from the Boston inner city to Cape Cod and beyond, and how the disparity he saw between his family and successful tech-industry innovators motivated him to get involved in computer science and later help others to do the same.
“Speaking at Google was the fulfillment of one of my lifelong goals, and it foreshadows some of the great things to come,” said Milhouse.
The academy will run as a three-month course on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings as well as Saturdays.
The academy program, which would typically cost $10,000, is free to anyone who qualifies to attend. Interested Rhode Islanders have to compete to qualify for the class. There are currently more than 30 students competing to gain entry into the Providence academy, of which 36 percent are female and half are people of color, according to an IntraCity Geeks release.
Those interested in applying to the CareerDevs Computer Science Academy can do so at http://intracitygeeks.org/careerdevs/. According to the application, the program is tentatively scheduled to begin in mid-June.
Kaylen Auer is a reporter for PBN.
