Treehouse Expands National Code-to-Work Program with Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action to Train 150,000 Workers for Technology Careers

DENVER, June 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at Clinton Global Initiative America 2014 (CGI America), Treehouse launched the next phase of its national Code-­to­-Work initiative with a public Commitment to Action to train 150,000 U.S. workers for rewarding, in-­demand coding careers by the year 2018. This Digital New Deal will also partner with organizations dedicated to reducing income inequality among women and minorities and expand access to high-­poverty, rural and underserved communities.

The Commitment to Action follows Treehouse's recent launch of Code Oregon, a job placement initiative created in partnership with Portland's workforce investment board Worksystems to build the region's future technology workforce. 

"Treehouse's CGI Commitment to Action will extend the job placement prototype we built for Code Oregon to every state across the country in order to reignite depressed economies and provide a career path to high­-wage jobs," said Ryan Carson, co-­founder and CEO of Treehouse. "Coding education alone won't be enough to fill the projected 1 million U.S. coding jobs expected to be created over the next six years. Students also need connections to hiring managers and training on how to find and market themselves for technology jobs. Our CGI Commitment is designed to bridge this gap by collaborating with local communities, organizations and the private sector to move citizens from the classroom into the workforce."

As part of its Commitment to Action to the Clinton Global Initiative, Treehouse will partner with regional and local governments, workforce investment boards and community-­based organizations to provide unemployed and underemployed workers an opportunity to "skill­-up" for in-­demand software jobs. To empower people with skills for high-­paying technology careers, Treehouse will provide these organizations access to online learning accounts that teach coding languages—such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and Ruby, and development for iOS, Android and WordPress. Treehouse's online education platform expands access to high-poverty and rural areas by allowing students to learn at their own pace, while raising families or working a day job to pay the bills.

In addition to providing extensive coding curriculum, job-­ready students will have access to career services, mentoring and training and job placement assistance through Treehouse courses as well as workforce development partnerships and technology employer networks.

For more information about Treehouse's Code­-to­-Work initiative, visit www.teamtreehouse.com.

About Treehouse

The Treehouse mission is to bring affordable technology education to people everywhere, in order to help them achieve their dreams and change the world. As members of the Treehouse community, students can learn to build websites, create iPhone and Android apps, build Web apps with Ruby on Rails and PHP, learn about user experience and how to start a business, and much more. Through 1000+ video tutorials, quizzes and code challenges created by expert teachers, students can learn to code in languages like Objective­C, HTML, CSS, PHP, Ruby, JavaScript and SQL. For more information, visit www.teamtreehouse.com.

About the Clinton Global Initiative America

The Clinton Global Initiative America (CGI America), a program of the Clinton Global Initiative, addresses economic recovery in the United States. Established in June 2011 by President Bill Clinton, CGI America brings together leaders in business, government, and civil society to generate and implement commitments to create jobs, stimulate economic growth, foster innovation, and support workforce development in the United States. Since its first meeting, CGI America participants have made over 300 commitments valued at more than $15 billion when fully funded and implemented. To learn more, visit cgiamerica.org.

Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders year-round and at its Annual Meeting to create and implement solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. CGI also convenes CGI University, which brings together undergraduate and graduate students to address pressing challenges in their communities and around the world. To date, members of the CGI community have made more than 2,800 Commitments to Action, which are already improving the lives of more than 430 million people in over 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued at $103 billion. For more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.

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SOURCE Treehouse