"The United States has 5% of the world’s population but 25% of the world’s incarcerated population."

-The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Mass incarceration represents both a humanitarian and economic crisis, with over 2 million individuals behind bars and a recidivism rate of nearly 68% within three years of release. Coders Beyond Bars emerged as a response to two parallel challenges: the high unemployment rate among formerly incarcerated individuals and a nationwide shortage of over 212,000 software engineers.

During my Master's in Education at Harvard, I was eager to move beyond theoretical classroom discussions about education and impact. This led me to volunteer as a teaching assistant with Professor Andre de Quadros in a medium-security men's prison in Massachusetts, an experience that would shape my understanding of education's transformative power in unexpected contexts. 

Once I graduated, I worked with co-founder Richard Kim on starting up our own non-profit to bring coding education into correctional facilities, creating pathways to employment in the tech industry for incarcerated individuals. We were accepted into Harvard University's incubator programme: Harvard Innovation Lab.

THE PROGRAM

Our approach centered on three key elements:

Curriculum Development

A progressive coding education pathway that met participants where they were, starting with foundational skills and building toward more advanced concepts. This included programs like Scratch programming for youth in juvenile facilities as an entry point to computational thinking and coding concepts.

Institutional Partnerships

The model required two critical partnership streams: correctional facilities willing to host and support coding education programs, and universities that could provide accreditation pathways. Each stream involved its own complex approval processes, security requirements, and implementation challenges.

Holistic Support Systems

The third pillar recognized that technical skills alone wouldn't ensure successful reintegration. The vision included building connections with organizations providing housing support, mental health services, and employment assistance to create a comprehensive support network for participants post-release.

EVOLUTION

What began as an independent initiative eventually found a permanent home within MIT's Educational Justice Institution (TEJI), under the leadership of Professor Lee Perlman. This integration provided institutional support and resources that allowed the program to expand its reach while maintaining its core mission.

KEY LEARNINGS

Meeting people where they are

The tech industry's talent shortage in software engineering and data science initially seemed like a clear opportunity. But our work quickly revealed a deeper challenge: many of our participants hadn't completed their GCSEs, not for lack of capability, but because of the same systemic barriers that had shaped their paths to incarceration. We learned to build bridges across this gap - starting with foundational skills like data entry, using visual programming tools like Scratch in our juvenile facilities, and creating stepping stones toward more advanced programming concepts. Working with our participants reminded us that talent exists everywhere, but opportunity doesn't. It wasn't about lowering standards - it was about creating accessible pathways to meet them.

Designing for extreme constraints

Operating within a correctional facility meant adapting to an environment where common teaching tools – even paper – were restricted. Every aspect of the program had to be designed around strict security protocols while remaining flexible enough to accommodate unexpected lockdowns or schedule changes. This taught us to find creative solutions within seemingly impossible constraints.

Building from zero

Creating an organization from scratch involved everything from filing legal paperwork to developing teaching materials to recruiting volunteers. Each task, no matter how small, was crucial to building a foundation that could support our mission. This experience highlighted the importance of attention to detail in creating sustainable social impact.

The power of context

The prison environment challenged many preconceptions about incarcerated individuals. Working alongside men who demonstrated incredible intellectual curiosity, resilience, and dedication to learning transformed my understanding of the criminal justice system and the individuals within it. While professional boundaries meant no contact after the program, these interactions left lasting impressions about human potential and the importance of creating second chances.

Navigating complexity

Every decision required careful navigation of multiple stakeholders - correctional officers, prison administration, volunteers, and participants. Success meant learning to balance various needs and constraints while staying focused on our core mission of creating meaningful educational opportunities.

The program continues today under MIT's TEJI, demonstrating that educational initiatives can create meaningful change even within the most challenging environments. It stands as a testament to the power of seeing beyond conventional boundaries to create opportunities where they're needed most.