By Lillian Graning
Mined Minds began with the goal of helping one person transition to a new career. That person was Marvin, a coal miner who was worried about how he would feed his family if the mine where he worked closed. He is now a professional software developer, delivering projects for clients and helping others start careers in technology.
Mined Minds doesn’t only train former coal miners. Stay-at-home moms, coal supply chain workers, ex-felons, refugees and high school dropouts have all found success through the program.
“This is a unique program that allows the flexibility necessary to get displaced workers into a new field where they have unlimited potential, both geographically and financially,” says Joe Brouse, director of existing business retention and expansion for the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority.
To best prepare this transitioning workforce, Mined Minds developed a 32-week training program that is split into boot camp and pre-apprenticeship phases. Participants are not required to have any prior coding experience, and they are guided through a hands-on, project-based curriculum designed and led by industry-expert software developers. During the boot camp phase, participants learn full-stack software development, working in pairs and small groups to complete mini-projects and katas that continually build upon concepts they have learned. From day one they are committed to GitHub, a leading software development platform, and learn to write clean, well-structured code and how to learn while working in an ever-evolving field.
While in the pre-apprenticeship phase, trainees learn by working alongside professional software developers on actual client projects. Participants use the latest technologies, including Cloud Services, server-less architecture and data management, as well as industry best practices and agile methodologies. They also continue their formal education through regular workshops and side projects.
After the pre-apprenticeship, graduates are ready to enter the workforce. In many cases, trainees decide to join Mined Minds for a full apprenticeship, where they continue to grow their skills and build competitive resumes for up to an additional 64 weeks. By the time this structured, competency-based, on-the-job training is complete, developers have obtained their crucial first two years of work experience.
Training a talented workforce is only one side of the equation for refocusing the economies of suffering communities—there also needs to be a supply of jobs for them. While there is no shortage of software development jobs nationwide, the majority of them are located in major cities and the Silicon Valley. To develop demand in the regions its participants are training, Mined Minds works closely with partner organizations across the world to ensure graduates can find full-time employment where they can contribute immediate value to their new employers.
Mined Minds was co-founded and is run by Amanda Laucher and Jonathan Graham. They are frequent international speakers and bring experience across sectors in Chicago, London, New York, Mumbai, San Francisco, Singapore and Sydney.
The program’s achievements speak for themselves. One hundred percent of Mined Minds graduates have been offered a job in the technology field. A total of 40 students have graduated to date, and at least 30 more are expected to graduate in May of 2018. Three groups started at the end of May 2017 in Clendenin, Beckley and Dixie, and those groups will graduate by mid-October.
About the Author
Lillian Crites Graning is the chief communications officer for the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority (NRGRDA). She became a marketing professional to help design ideas and communication processes that would make the world a more vibrant, engaging place to live. She works with NRGRDA staff, extension agents and community leaders to craft the implementation and communication of the regional strategic plan and create tools and connections to better serve the initiative’s target industries: tourism, wood products/forestry, agribusiness/food systems, distribution/logistics, manufacturing and back office operations.
4 Comments
Actually 0 graduates have found jobs in the tech field. Out of the first class, they found reasons to fire all but a few of the graduates. When they stopped getting reimbursed 90% of the apprentice salaries, they found reasons to fire me and 2 others. They claim 100% but it’s a lie. If you want proof, do research, or better yet, ask them for the name of any company that a graduate has found a job with. They will smooth talk, because they are smooth talkers, but they claim 100% because they temporarily hire all of the graduates then 1 by 1 find reasons to fire them. The only people who have found salary positions are family members of the cofounders.
And from what I hear, one of their more recent classes has all quit due to the empty promises they have made. And look at the news article that was ran in Pennsylvania about Mined Minds. They are running the same scam here that got them.shut down in Pennsylvania.
I’m covering Mined Minds for eLearning Inside News – would you be willing to chat over the phone? You can reach me at hkronk@gmail.com
As a former Mined Minds student, I agree with the Mined MInds graduate. Amanda Laucher and the Mined Minds group make many claims and promised that cannot be backed up. They were issued a cease and desist in PA, so they tucked tail and come to WV to take advantage of our state to purely line the pockets of the Laucher family. Their big success story “Marv” well he is Amanda’s brother and has never worked a day in the Tech industry outside of Mined Minds. Please do more research, they have a real nice “story” but it is just that….a story. Not one graduate has found a single job in the Tech industry as a result of Mined Minds. It is a scam.
A little late to the party here, but I’m a former Mined Minds student and I found an excellent job as a developer just a few weeks after finishing my apprenticeship with Mined Minds.
I had to put in the work and the effort – during the boot camp, during the apprenticeship and then with finding a job. There was no spoon-feeding.
But it was due to having the opportunity with Mined Minds that I am where I am now.
In fact, I’m doing even better now than before I was laid off (when I was in my previous industry) and I love my job. Almost everyday, I leave work with a smile on my face.
It’s very true that most people that started in the program didn’t “make it”, but I honestly believe that where there’s a will, there’s a way. (It just might not be with Mined Minds – fair enough, learn what you can and move on. But don’t stop trying.)