South Florida Tech HubSouth Florida Tech Hub

By Nikki Cabus

Tech Hub Announces 2023 Golden Palm Award Nominees

Read Time 2 Minutes

South Florida Tech Hub has announced the nominees for the 2023 Golden Palm Gala & Awards! 

The event will honor the companies, organizations and individuals who have greatly contributed to building South Florida’s technology community. The recipients range from successful CEOs, startup founders, and community leaders all recognized for their many achievements and contributions. Tech Hub received almost 100 nomination submissions. The event’s Presenting Sponsor is 35 Mules, an Innovation Hub powered by Florida Power & Light. 

The Golden Palm Awards will be held at the gorgeous Kravis Center for The Performing Arts located in downtown West Palm Beach down the street from the Brightline West Palm Beach Station. The event will open at 5:30 PM and close at 9:00 PM. Click Here to Purchase Tickets

 

Golden Palm Award Nominees:

Collaboration of The Year

Social Responsibility

Innovator of The Year

Community Connector

Inclusion Champion

EdTech Excellence

Leadership Excellence

 

Winners announced at the event. Get your ticket today! Save $25 with code NOM2023

By Nikki Cabus

Techstrong supports diversity in tech; the next Engineer The Change scholarship recipient announced

Read Time 5 Minutes

Techstrong Group has teamed up with Boca Code once again to award another ‘Engineer the Change’ scholarship to help foster diversity in South Florida tech talent pool and empower individuals from underserved communities to develop the skills needed to succeed in the industry.

The scholarship is awarded twice per year, once in the spring and once in the fall. Winners receive $10,000 each to put toward Boca Code’s Software Engineering Course. The 10-week intensive coding bootcamp combines theory and hands-on, project-based learning that prepares the students for a career in software engineering. Boca Code offers adults comprehensive training in software development using real projects for real companies to best prepare you for and help place you in a career in the tech industry.

Our Engineer The Change scholarship recipient for the Spring 2023 cohort is . . . Camila Sandoval!

Camila was born in Colombia, South America in a small town where tragedy struck her family early on. With the support of her grandmother who taught her English and her mother who instilled strong values and a love for mathematics, Camila was driven to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering where she took two programming classes that ignited her interest in coding. She then realized she wanted to dedicate her career to developing medical software. With few opportunities in Colombia in this field, she moved to South Florida, a state known for healthcare and innovation.

Moving to the United States presented several challenges, including a lack of connections, her degree not being recognized, and having to prioritize finding a job to cover my basic needs over prioritizing her education. She continued self-taught online bootcamps where she discovered Boca Code and the “Engineer the Change” scholarship opportunity. She knew this was her next step.

Camila has a great desire to help others and much of that stems from her own personal experiences. She believes these opportunities should be available to everyone no matter there background or circumstances.

Upon winning, Camila told South Florida Tech Hub, “As an immigrant, winning the Engineer the Change Scholarship means more than just having the financial support to achieve my goals. It also provides me with the opportunity to join an industry that transforms the world. I am grateful for the chance to contribute my unique perspective and inspire others who may be facing similar challenges.”

Congratulations, Camila, we are all rooting for you!

The Engineer the Change scholarships combine two goals that are core to Techstrong Group:

  1. Doing their part to make South Florida a world-class hub for the tech industry and
  2. Providing opportunities for individuals from underrepresented communities to acquire the skills they need for a successful career in tech.

Techstrong Group is a media company and the power source for people and technology accelerating understanding of technologies that drive business by serving the needs of IT leaders and practitioners with news, research, analysis, events, education, certifications and professional development. Their focus is digital transformation, DevOps, cybersecurity, cloud and cloud-native under brands such as Techstrong Media, Techstrong Associations, Techstrong Research, Techstrong Learning and Techstrong Live!

“We are proud to continue our partnership with Boca Code to support and empower talented individuals who are seeking opportunities for growth and have demonstrated a deep commitment to pursuing a career in IT,” said Alan Shimel, founder and CEO at Techstrong Group. The scholarship will be awarded to the most deserving student whose application shows a genuine interest in technology and demonstrates the potential to be a future leader.”

Research shows a staggering lack of diversity in STEM fields, most noticeably within computer and engineering positions. It is a glaring workforce disparity that requires both recognition and responsibility from those at the highest levels in the tech world to create a more diverse and equitable workforce.

To be eligible, applicants must be over the age of 18 and be part of an underrepresented community (i.e. women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans or other minority groups). To be considered, applicants will are required to submit an essay (minimum of 500 words in length) detailing how they can serve as a role model to other disadvantaged individuals hoping to acquire the skills to become successful tech workers and what type of career in the tech industry they are hoping to pursue.

While the idea is to help the South Florida tech community, applicants can apply from anywhere as long as their essay explains why they are coming to South Florida to launch their tech career.

Boca Code CEO Todd Albert told South Florida Tech Hub that ‘The scholarship has a huge impact because we have been able to help students that would otherwise not have been able to afford to attend. We’ve given 8 students the opportunity to change their lives and have a better future for them and their families.”

“Techstrong is an amazing partner and shares our passion for making the tech community even more diverse,” he continued.

“It is important to us that we seize every opportunity to help foster diversity and inclusivity within the tech industry, and the Engineer the Change scholarship is a great start to empowering disadvantaged minorities within the South Florida community to grow their technical skill set.”

Unlike other code schools where students work on dummy projects, Boca Code partners with real companies to give our students real life resume-worthy projects to work on that not only build their portfolio, but give them meaningful experiences. Their curriculum is designed by professional educators and senior developers.

Additionally, scholarship winners are featured in the ‘Engineering the Change’ video series, produced by Techstrong Group, which follows the recipients on their journey to become software engineers. From the highs to the lows, you can get a view into what these software engineering students are facing.

Additional Resources

By Nikki Cabus

CEO Update | We Are South Florida Tech

Read Time 2 Minutes
We’re now South Florida Tech!

Five years ago, we started Palm Beach Tech with the vision to Build the Palm Beaches into a Tech Hub. But as our membership expanded, a larger need was seen by our Team & Board.

The need for a consistent stream of high-quality tech talent is not a county issue, it is a regional issue and must be addressed as such. This will continue to be South Florida Tech’s top priority as we serve our committed members, our growing industry, and our diverse community.

Read more from the South Florida Business Journal

We have a lot of work ahead, and we’re working on new partnerships, bigger initiatives, and more resources for our community that will be released over the next few months. As the only regional tech organization in South Florida, we are building a big tent, with everyone welcome at the table. I’m confident that we can Build South Florida into a Tech Hub.

We love South Florida, and if you’re reading this, we’re here for you #BuildingSoFlo.

In Service,


Joseph R. Russo
President & CEO, South Florida Tech

 


Here are our highlights of what we’ve been up to over the past two weeks. We have an amazing team that’s been working passionately through these last few months to bring more values for our members. A core initiative of ours is to prioritize the Members of our community with exclusive benefits. This includes:

 

Member Peer Groups | Click Here to Apply

South Florida Tech Member Peer Groups are exclusive for our members to meet, learn, and share together. All members are invited based on their current work & past experience.

 

 

Member Platform | Click Here to Apply

The Member Platform is a space where members will share, connect, and develop relationships with one another, securely. If you’re a member, be sure to signup!

 

South Florida Tech Shirt | Click Here to View

We’re going retro! Our friends Cyan Shores screen printing took a 5-year-old Palm Beach Tech logo concept and made it into this awesome shirt! #SouthFloridaTech

Tech Hub Announces 2023 Golden Palm Award Nominees
Techstrong supports diversity in tech; the next Engineer The Change scholarship recipient announced
CEO Update | We Are South Florida Tech