Matt Stephenson
CEO & Co-Founder, Code2College
Matt Stephenson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Code2College (www.code2college.org), an Austin, TX based nonprofit that is building a national network of diverse, college-going technical talent. Through its skills-based, volunteer-driven program model, high school students – who are primarily Black, brown and girls – develop coding and professional skills, gain exposure to a variety of STEM industries through case competitions and workshops, and build competence, confidence and a deep network through mentorship relationships with industry volunteers.
In Fall 2016, Matt launched Code2College as a pilot in two Austin area schools serving 30 students, but the organization has since served over 5,000 students and placing over 600 high school interns who have generated over $3.5M in summer earnings. Further, after accelerating its national scale amidst the pandemic, Code2College now delivers programming in 15 cities across the country including Dallas, Philadelphia, Denver, Houston, Atlanta and New York.
Under Matt’s leadership, Code2College has become the national leader in preparing girls and students of color for STEM undergraduate majors and careers through paid, technical high school internships. These highly competitive technical internship placements continue to differentiate Code2College from similar programs as these students are able to launch their careers in software engineering, Cybersecurity, embedded systems and other technical fields at leading companies including Atlassian and VMware prior to entering college.
Over 96% of Code2College high school Seniors matriculate to college and over 85% pursue a STEM degree. Code2College has seen its alumni secure admissions at over seventy four-year undergraduate institutions across the country including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Cornell and MIT, with the majority of these alumni being from first-generation, low-income backgrounds. In addition, its first wave of full-time hires are gainfully employed as engineers, developers and other technical professionals at companies including Microsoft, Indeed and Silicon Labs.
Matt started his career in K12 education as a high school math teacher and Leadership Fellow, at Achievement First Public in New Haven, CT. He has served as an Associate Partner at NewSchools Venture Fund, as well as the Director of Finance for KIPP Austin Public Schools. Prior to his stint in education, Matt was an Analyst at Goldman Sachs as well as an Internship Program Manager for Sponsors for Educational Opportunity. Matt holds a M.B.A. in Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School and a BS in Finance and Information Systems from the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Matt Stephenson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Code2College (www.code2college.org), an Austin, TX based nonprofit that is building a national network of diverse, college-going technical talent. Through its skills-based, volunteer-driven program model, high school students – who are primarily Black, brown and girls – develop coding and professional skills, gain exposure to a variety of STEM industries through case competitions and workshops, and build competence, confidence and a deep network through mentorship relationships with industry volunteers.
In Fall 2016, Matt launched Code2College as a pilot in two Austin area schools serving 30 students, but the organization has since served over 5,000 students and placing over 600 high school interns who have generated over $3.5M in summer earnings. Further, after accelerating its national scale amidst the pandemic, Code2College now delivers programming in 15 cities across the country including Dallas, Philadelphia, Denver, Houston, Atlanta and New York.
Under Matt’s leadership, Code2College has become the national leader in preparing girls and students of color for STEM undergraduate majors and careers through paid, technical high school internships. These highly competitive technical internship placements continue to differentiate Code2College from similar programs as these students are able to launch their careers in software engineering, Cybersecurity, embedded systems and other technical fields at leading companies including Atlassian and VMware prior to entering college.
Over 96% of Code2College high school Seniors matriculate to college and over 85% pursue a STEM degree. Code2College has seen its alumni secure admissions at over seventy four-year undergraduate institutions across the country including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Cornell and MIT, with the majority of these alumni being from first-generation, low-income backgrounds. In addition, its first wave of full-time hires are gainfully employed as engineers, developers and other technical professionals at companies including Microsoft, Indeed and Silicon Labs.
Matt started his career in K12 education as a high school math teacher and Leadership Fellow, at Achievement First Public in New Haven, CT. He has served as an Associate Partner at NewSchools Venture Fund, as well as the Director of Finance for KIPP Austin Public Schools. Prior to his stint in education, Matt was an Analyst at Goldman Sachs as well as an Internship Program Manager for Sponsors for Educational Opportunity. Matt holds a M.B.A. in Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School and a BS in Finance and Information Systems from the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Cracking the Egg: High School Internships as the Solution to Solve the Experience Gap for Undergrads
It's no secret that prior relevant experience is a primary factor in hiring decisions. But the common early career dilemma has persisted: without experience, you're unlikely to be hired - but how can you be hired if you don't land that first experience?
Since 2016, Code2College has been preparing and placing high school students (as young as 14 years old) into paid, technical Summer internships with companies like Atlassian, Indeed and YETI. These high school interns have worked alongside full-time employees implementing projects that have realized real business impact, enhanced team collaboration and engendered a culture of mentorship. With a 96% college matriculation rate, 92% intern return offer rate and over 80% of hiring managers consistently reporting that Code2College high school interns perform at or above the level of undergraduate interns on their team. Code2College alumni consistently land undergraduate internship opportunities and full-time roles because their prior experience started in high school.
In this session, you'll hear several case studies as well as empirical data related to the efficacy of high school internships and how Code2College is preparing to significantly scale this early ID intervention.
