WHAT IS RAILSBRIDGE? RailsBridge puts on technology workshops as a free and fun way to get started or level up with Rails, Ruby, and other web technologies. Our events focus on increasing diversity in tech, so that people of all backgrounds can feel welcome and comfortable in our industry. We teach people to code because we believe that the people making technology should accurately reflect the diversity of those using it. We want to push for all kinds of diversity in tech: gender, race, sexual orientation, ability, and class. We value acceptance, enthusiasm, and hard work. The RailsBridge com ..read more

Since 2012, a friendly monster has helped workshop organizers plan and track their events. Bridge Troll is a Rails app that provides a single site for students and volunteers to RSVP for workshops, simplifies the task of creating class groupings for the workshop day, and provides follow up surveys afterwards. It started for RailsBridge, and now MobileBridge, GoBridge, ElmBridge, ElixiBridge and ScalaBridge are actively using it! Bridge Troll is an open source project, which means its care and feeding have been a labor of love by over 80 contributors led by partners Travis Grathwell and Lillie ..read more

We’re thrilled to announce three new members of the RailsBridge community have joined our board of directors! Kari Bancroft is a Software Development Instructor at Ada Developers Academy where she works as a teacher and mentor for growing junior developers. Kari has previously worked as a Senior Software Engineer and an Instructor for a Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program at Facebook. She is extremely passionate about helping new developers find their place in the industry. When she’s not teaching or writing code, Kari is probably playing with her dog Kylo, dancing around the house or wri ..read more

The RailsBridge board is excited to announce our organizational initiatives for 2016 and 2017! Broadly, we want to reach more communities that are under-represented in technology, create stronger communities in areas that currently have workshops, and sponsor workshops in more geographic areas. The goals came from a lot of discussion. The Board of Directors drafted the first version in late 2015 and worked with the Advisory Board to refine them. Reaching our goals will take the effort of many RailsBridge chapters and leaders around the world, and we’re excited to have so many talented vol ..read more

What is RailsBridge? RailsBridge puts on technology workshops as a free and fun way to get started or level up with Rails, Ruby, and other web technologies. Our events focus on increasing diversity in tech, so that people of all backgrounds can feel welcome and comfortable in our industry. We teach people to code because we believe that the people making technology should accurately reflect the diversity of those using it. We want to push for all kinds of diversity in tech: gender, race, sexual orientation, ability, and class. We value acceptance, enthusiasm, and hard work. The ..read more

During the last three months, the RailsBridge board, along with Meghan Schofield, a designer based in San Francisco, worked to create a new logo for our community. It was a super fun and engaging process, and here is the result: Why did RailsBridge need a new logo? For a long time, the organization didn’t have a representative image that conveyed the true spirit of our community: a warm, welcoming and inclusive space open to collaboration and fun while still learning and teaching. That’s why the board made re-branding a priority. Meghan patiently guided us through the design process. She ..read more

We’re excited to announce that Nicole Amos and Sharon Siegel have joined the newly formed Chapter Committee. They are joined by existing RailsBridge Board members Ana Castro and Bianca Rodrigues. This group will streamline the process of starting a new chapter as and manage our existing chapters as we continue to expand throughout the world. We’ll be sharing more information on proposed changes in the next few weeks and months. In the meantime, please read on below to learn more about our rad new volunteers! NICOLE AMOS is an Operations Analyst and recent bootcamp grad ..read more

RailsBridge is seeking new and experienced organizers to join the Chapter Outreach Team! One of the RailsBridge board’s major goals for 2016 is to better support existing RailsBridge chapters and make it easier to start a new chapter. Our documentation for running an individual workshop is extensive, but we currently don’t have much written down for setting up chapter leadership, coordinating ongoing fundraising, and managing the workload of recurring workshops. We’re looking to start a team to streamline chapter outreach and communication and create a kit for new chapters. This kit will ..read more

If you love words, RailsBridge, and the Internet, please get in touch — RailsBridge is looking for volunteers to form a communications team! We’ve had tremendous success in the last six years growing primarily through word of mouth (and about three tweets per month), but we’d like be more intentional about how we share our accomplishments and goals with the world. That’s where you come in! You will be the voice of an organization doing work that you care about, seeing and sharing the fruits of our collective efforts. There is a lot of amazing work happening throughout the world with RailsBridg ..read more

Is your life better because of RailsBridge? Do you want to enable diverse communities to experience the excitement of writing their first Ruby program? The RailsBridge board is planning a fundraising campaign to support expansion in 2016, and we’re looking for volunteers to work with us on planning and executing this campaign! In 2016, we’re hoping to expand RailsBridge to new cities and new marginalized groups we haven’t partnered with before. We want to dedicate money to those efforts, so workshop organizers can focus on students and volunteers, rather than worry about who’s going to pay for ..read more