Apple today celebrated the fifth cohort of its Detroit Developer Academy with a new feature highlighting local app creators who have used the program over the years to create apps, businesses and community projects. Here are the details.
Apple highlights achievements and impact of Detroit Academy
in a Newsroom story shared todayApple highlighted four Apple Developer Academy graduates and the projects they worked on during and after the program.
Apple Developer Academy is a free training program focused on app development, design, business, and professional skills. Currently it is available in six countriesThe Detroit Academy being the only one in the United States to date.
The Detroit Apple Developer Academy was created in 2021 as part of Apple Racial Justice and Equity Initiativea program that, according to the company, focuses “on three priority areas: education, economic empowerment and criminal justice reform.”
From Apple’s newsroom post:
This year marks the fifth start of the Apple Developer Academy in Detroit, completed in collaboration with Michigan State University (MSU) and the Gilbert Family Foundation. Since launching in the heart of the Motor City in 2021, the academy has welcomed more than 1,800 students through its free programs, including the full nine-month experience and the Apple Foundation Program, an intensive four-week app development course. This year, the academy’s fifth cohort of students includes 200 Detroit residents who have been equipped with business and app development skills to prepare them for careers in the evolving app economy and other technology-focused roles.
Recently, the effectiveness of the Detroit Apple Developer Academy was question after Wired published a story examining the program’s funding, cost per student and job placement outcomes.
According to Wired, “about 71 percent of graduates from the past two years landed full-time jobs in a variety of industries,” which was on the low end of what would be considered a successful employment rate for coding schools.
At the time, Apple rejected the idea that job placement figures alone reflected the value of the academy, saying that graduates also use the coding, design, project management and marketing skills learned at the academy in a broader range of careers.
Returning to Apple’s newsroom post, the company highlighted four academy graduates and alumni, including Courey Jiménez, a member of this year’s class.
Jimenez created Sign and say“a PECS application that incorporates simple American Sign Language signs to facilitate communication for users who prefer signs to pictures.”
The post also highlighted Saamer Mansoor, who helped develop the accessibility app. BeAware Deaf AssistantBriaca Duesette, who founded Animation Discovery Studioand Nick Gordon, co-founder of the Detroit tech nonprofit. DevelopersCreate313.
To read the full Apple newsroom story, follow this link.
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