Meet the tblxers coding for integration
Tags: Social Responsibility, Web App Development, Culture, Startups Stories, Software

Meet the tblxers coding for integration

Francisco and Masoud are teaching migrants how to code tb.lx Follow Sep 17 · 5 min read

tblxers Francisco Pires and Masoud Soleymani are volunteers at ‘Coding For Integration”, teaching migrants and refugees in Lisbon how to code. The program seeks to empower students with skills to find good jobs in the Portuguese tech market, make connections, and thrive in a new country. There are still open spots for mentors.

From left to right: Francisco and Masoud

How it all started

In the beginning of this year, our backend engineer, Francisco Pires, was looking for opportunities to volunteer in his personal time. He was put in touch with Ana Muller, founder of the non-profit project Fuse, and together they started working on the initiative with the support of The Lisbon Project. This non-profit organization assists migrants and refugees coming to Lisbon.

Our frontend engineer, Masoud Soleymani, was already involved in several activities of The Lisbon Project and was happy to jump aboard this new program and give back to the same community that helped him get started when he first arrived in Lisbon:

“Generally, I like to help the people who are in need of some guidance or a little push. I had the same challenge, and I needed help to settle in. I knew that I could learn something, and I actually went through the same process. I was looking for bootcamps and places where I could learn and improve my skills, but most were paid programs and quite expensive. They helped me a lot with learning and getting the right opportunities.”

What is Coding for Integration?

Coding For Integration is “a free, 7-month programming course designed to provide the necessary tools one needs to enter the job market and develop a sustainable livelihood. Even when starting from scratch.” It takes inspiration from Hack Your Future, a similar non-profit program from the Netherlands that makes their curriculum open-source so that other lives can be improved through free education.

It consists of 8 modules, including HTML, CSS and GIT, Javascript, Databases, and React. Students will then have a chance to develop a Final Project using everything they’ve learned.

Image credit: Screenshot from Fuse’s website

Masoud will be teaching the first modules, more focused on frontend, while Francisco will be teaching the modules focused on backend, with the support of the fourth member of the Fuse team, Demi Sparks. For Francisco, programs like Coding for Integration are very important:

“Today’s tech market has a big demand for people and there are plenty of good jobs out there, with good conditions and competitive salaries. These can not only provide migrants with a good quality of life in their new country, but also enable them to support their families. Not all of the jobs accessible to migrants right now are good or pay well. So, giving people this skillset might improve their work opportunities to build a better life.”

One of the distinctive features of this program is the direct interaction with the tech scene. This is crucial for integration because in this type of course, students will meet people from the IT area, build a network, and maybe meet the person who will offer them their next job. Furthermore, there will be some classes focused on interview preparation, so students will get a real grasp of how things work in the Lisbon tech scene — as opposed to a bootcamp that is strictly technical, or just watching a tutorial online and not having any connection with the city and the professionals.

“The goal is to teach viable technologies that are being used right now by companies all over the country. It’s about teaching the basics with the minimum set of skills. So, we’re not going to focus on too many languages or tools, but rather on some that can work together. This way, students leave with broader knowledge they can apply to several areas. For example, we do backend in JavaScript because we also need JavaScript in the frontend.” — Francisco

Companies have to look beyond the traditional profiles

With free learning opportunities like Coding for Integration available for migrants and refugees that would not easily have access to these tools, it is up to companies not to block the door to the job market.

For Masoud, “people who are raised in Europe and Western countries probably have access to better education, but I believe that people who are from my country [Iran], or developing countries, have the same capacity to access to a good life, which they don’t have in their own country. So, when they leave, they are hoping to grow and create a better life.”

Francisco believes that recruiters should look beyond the traditional profiles of tech professionals:

“When we hire, we need to consider that there is more than just the classical way of doing things. When you select people, it’s not just because they went to college X, or company Y. At the end of the day, that doesn’t matter. If people have the right skills and can do the job, they should be able to get the job. It’s [Coding For Integration] about trying to put people on the same knowledge level so that we can provide them with equal opportunities and consider them for the same jobs.”

But despite the lack of diversity in the sector, Masoud is hopeful that positive change is on its way to the tech scene:

“I’ve seen that so many companies are changing their way of looking at the people applying for jobs. Instead of focusing on their background or their studies and experience, they focus on what the person knows at that moment, the work they can handle, what they can do, and how they can grow.”

At tb.lx, we too share this mindset of hiring for potential. We continuously review our recruiting practices to offer equal opportunities to all, and foster a more diverse team.

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Do you also want to help? Become a teacher or mentor

The current team at Coding for Integration could use more volunteers to split the workload of the course. If you are an IT professional or have any web development experience, you too can teach a module. And suppose you aren’t as experienced, or don’t feel comfortable as a teacher; in that case, you can also apply for a supporting role, such as mentoring, helping with homework, or just boosting motivation.

Get in touch with the team at Fuse and tell them how you want to participate. It will only require a couple of hours every Saturday for a few weeks!