Task:
Develop a new an innovative program that supports a specific population outlined by Oregon’s Senate Bill with an aim to prepare Oregon’s workforce for the growing technology sector.
Overview
FuseChange in collaboration with Liminal Labs and NTEN, led the designed new and innovative program that started in the Portland Metro Area called The Open Source Fellowship.
The program recognizes 30-40% of those unemployed are neurodivergent persons. More often than not, this population is more than capable, often possessing strengths that enable their teams to innovate. The challenge can start seeking out and landing a job when both employers and hiring committees do not fully understand our neuro-differences. Once on the job working to sustain employment can also be difficult adpating to work environments.
Neurodiverse persons are valuable!
Harvard Business School, 2017 suggests “Many people with neurological conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and dyslexia have extraordinary skills, including those in pattern recognition, memory, and mathematics. Yet they often struggle to fit the profiles sought by employers.”
Middlebury’s Guide on Business for Neurodiversity highlights the business case for neuroinclusive environments, citing that disability-inclusive companies see up to 28% higher revenues. Neurodiverse talent introduces fresh new perspectives, fostering creativity and problem-solving that is beneficial for tackling complex business challenges.
What we delivered:
Program Design:
We designed this program based on lived experience as neurodivergent persons, recognizing some of the best technology talent are persons that identify as neurodivergent. Yet many of these persons were working in unrelated feilds or unemployed. We want to be able to help bridge this divide.
Through community conversations and our community partners, the challege we found is not neccessarily the technical skills. What is more important for emploters turned out to be a candidate’s ability to jump into a collaborative software development processes seamlessly. Part of being able to jump on a team also involves
The program is in 3 parts:
1. Hands on work experience for five neurodivergent persons
2. Community events that drive neuroinclusive learnings
3. Build an open source technol0gy supporting local nonprofits
T
Solution
The Open Source Fellowship focuses on expanding education and training programs to transfer technology skills to persons that identify as neurodiverse. We provide a combination of education, recruiting, technical training and upskill persons in the fellowship. The solution is designed to inspire new recruits, improve self-esteem, refine full-stack development skills and upskill individuals with previous technology workforce experience.
Four distinct parts:
- 1. It’s Open Source
- 2. Recruitment & education events
- 3. Technical training
- 4. Online Courses & Community
- 5. One Year Fellowship (Paid)
1. It’s Open Source
What’s especially unique about this program, everything we do is open source. If what we produce can be valuable and used by others, use it and lets collaborate to improve it.
– Produce Content: We will be making as much of our educational and training materials available online for the public to learn from.
– Build a web-based product: Our fellows and partners are going to create an open source technology that can support the Portland Metropolitan region. The same solution can be used and enhanced by any other community in Oregon, the United States and beyond
2. Recruitment, Education Events
These in person events provide neurodivergent individuals with the opportunities to meet with recruiters and listen to strategists to land a great position in the technology sector. Attendees will learn to identify how their mind and expertise could be a great fit in the IT sectors. Technology experts with lived experience will speak to attendees providing insights from their experiences and share knowledge from their subject matter expertise.
3. Training Events
Trainings are designed to educate neurodivergent individuals about full-stack technology. The events are open to any number of participants and will be staged across the project time-frame. Each training builds on the other by providing practical guidance on the skills required by local technology employers. These include AI & Data, Development Ops, UX/UI, and other core competencies for Full-Stack development.
Measure of success: (Recruitment, Education and Training)
– Get minimum of 600 unique in-person participants to attend the in person events
– Get minimum of 1000 unique virtual participants to attend
– Participants NPS-survey will score a 30+ (great to excellent)
4. Online Courses & Community
We are anticipating providing one-year access to online course who complete initial event series. The online curriculum will coincide with the virtual trainings, so that virtual participants can lean alongside their training and event participation. Every participant is invited to join FuseChange’s virtual community to engage with mentors and the neurodiverse community as they seek to advance in their technology careers.
Measure of success:
– Grow from 0 to 400 monthly active Oregon community members by June 2026
5. One Year Fellowship (Paid)
Up to five participants will be invited to join a paid fellowship for one year. Together, they will build open-source technology that supports a community-based nonprofit in Portland. Each fellow will be trained as a full-stack developer with transferable skills that local employers need.
Measure of success:
– 100% of the participants will feel they are ready to enter or rejoin the workforce
– 100% of the participants are employed
– Participants NPS-survey will score a 30+ (great to excellent