Ada Developers Academy

Mission

Lever for Change Equality Can't Wait Awardee

Ada’s mission is to prepare women and gender expansive adults to be software developers while advocating for inclusive and equitable work environments. We primarily serve and address the needs of Black, Latine, Indigenous Americans, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander, LGBTQIA+, and low-income people.

Our tuition-free training program includes a collaborative learning environment, individualized support (mentors, tutors, a network of mental health supports, affinity groups), and an applied learning internship.

Lever for Change Project Description
Ada prepares Black women to launch careers as software developers and advance into tech leadership roles. A Black woman in tech herself, Ada's Deputy Director and Interim CEO Alexandra Holien has spent eight years at Ada creating pathways of upward mobility to address racial and gender opportunity gaps.

Launched in June 2020, Equality Can't Wait was a $40 million challenge to fund solutions to help expand women’s power and influence in the U.S. by 2030. The Challenge was hosted by Pivotal Ventures, Melinda French Gates’ investment and incubation company — with additional support from MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett, and Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies. Five-hundred-and-fifty (550) proposals were submitted to the competition and were evaluated using four criteria: Whether the proposals were transformative, innovative, equitable, and feasible. The Equality Can't Wait Idea Lab features top projects from all submissions, as selected by a panel of experts and peers. Five Awardees were announced in July 2021: Four received $10 million each (Ada Developers Academy; Girls Inc.; Native Women Lead; National Domestic Workers Alliance), and one received $4 million (FreeFrom).

Organization Information