🍒 Cherry on Tech is a volunteer-run organization whose mission is to support people of marginalized genders who are new to the tech world. We are dedicated to developing a community that empowers women, non-binary, and trans folks while promoting the power of being part of a tech squad.
What is a tech squad?
A tech squad is a group of people committed to:
- help every member to enter and level up in the tech industry,
- work together on projects where each member can develop their skills,
- celebrate successes, and be there for each other
And the best part is to have an impact on each other while having fun. Learn more about tech squads.
Who should join?
To be a good fit, you:
- Identify as an underrepresented gender
-
Are aspiring to be a:
- Developer
- Product Manager
- UX Designer
-
Have been or will begin looking for a role in the next 1-3 months
- You are new to tech
- You don't have relevant experience
- You want to practice and develop skills in your field
- Are seeking to work and gain experience in a multidisciplinary and agile environment
- Are looking to add a new and real project to your portfolio
- Are interested in learning how to build accessible websites
- Are able to make a 13-week commitment to the program (estimated 5-7hrs/week)
- Want to empower your tech squad members to grow, learn and feel excited about working toward a common goal
Program Details
The Cherry on Tech Cohort program connects you with other like-minded individuals to form your own tech squad.
We will walk your squad through a 13-week project with weekly tasks and mentorship to help your squad define, build, and deploy a live website.
Your squad will have a weekly meeting to discuss your project, share knowledge, and support each other on your tech career journeys. You will spend 5-7 hours per week on your project, with a mix of independent work, co-working time, and mentorship.
We host global meetings for all squads to get a brief overview of the upcoming week, hear from guest speakers, participate in breakout sessions, and come together as a larger community of tech squads.
⭐️ This is a NO COST program ⭐️
Key features
- Cross-functional - We put devs, designers, and product managers together on a tech squad so you can gain experience working with the common roles in the industry.
- Build a static site - Go from idea to launch. Work within the constraint of building a static site in order to deliver a high-quality MVP in 13 weeks.
- Focus on accessibility - We believe web accessibility is essential. We encourage our tech squads to think about accessibility at every step of the design and coding process.
- Lifelong career support - Tech squads continue beyond the program, and we continue to support your squad’s success as a member of our community of tech squads.
- Mentorship - We provide each squad with a mentor for each role. Our mentors are experienced professionals who are volunteering their time for mentoring.
Tech stack and tools
- React
- Netlify
- npm
- git
- GitHub
- tailwind
- VScode
- ESLint
- Prettier
- axe Accessibility Linter
- Figma
- Jira
- Notion
- Slack
- Jamboard
Important dates
September 9th, 2023: Our next cohort begins!- December 9th, 2023: End of the Cohort, final presentation!
Program schedule
Week 0: Onboarding
Join the Cherry on Tech Slack and meet your squad. Pick the problem space your squad will build a solution for.
Week 1-3: Discovery, Prototyping, and User Story Mapping
Research, ideate, and test a lo-fi prototype. Build your user flow and personas for a story-mapping workshop.
Week 4: Baseline
Establish a shared understanding of the Software Development Life Cycle and practices you will use to build quality software.
Week 5 - 12: Sprints
Work as a cross-functional team in an agile workflow to deliver features of your project.
Week 13: Final Presentation
Present your project and celebrate completing your first project with your tech squad!
After that…
We encourage your squad to continue to work together at your own pace so you can continue to support each other in your careers.
How to join
👉 Apply here
Are you interested in volunteering with us?
➡️ Sign me up!
✉️ Contact us
Have questions or comments?
🍒 Reach out to us via email at cherryontech@gmail.com 🌸
