Let's celebrate together!

I learned software engineering best practices from experienced professionals. I also worked on challenging development issues in a team environment using myriad of technologies. I got an opportunity to lead the dev team and help new developers make progress in their dev journey.

My time at Hack for L.A. helped me learn how to work in a team, learn new tools and the language to pivot from academia into the industry. It helped me land a contract position at a research agency, and eventually helped me get my current full time position at Canada Life. The experience at Hack for L.A. was very valuable as I got to work with amazing people.

Have been a part of many different teams over the past few years, though recently try to pick back up and be more aggressive. Part of Jobs for Hope, TDM Calc and now the website team as I am get back on track.

I joined talented teams where I learned how to collaborate with people, led and mentored developers, and gained experience as an engineer. Hack for LA is a great opportunity for people trying to hone their skills and grow their careers.

Hack for LA gave me valuable experience working in product and design. The organization provided me with a wonderful team and I learned how to transfer my academic skills to the world of UX Research.

Hack for LA is a great way to get hands-on experience while also working on projects to improve the lives of Angelenos. I love Hack for LA and will continue to work with them even though I got a new job!

Hack for LA taught me that design can't be done in a vacuum. Collaborating, designing and iterating together helped set the foundation for the rest of my design career. I felt that my strengths as a writer and designer were actualized through my supportive team. Not only did I learn what it takes to make a design system, but I discovered how satisfying it can be to use technology for good.

My journey at Hack for LA got to be one of the most engaging and rewarding experience. I was able to improve in my area of interests working on projects that made a positive impact. I am proud to witness how the UX/UI community of practice has grown to connect and uplift people from such diverse backgrounds. Recommend it for anyone that's looking to get involved with the civic tech movement and improve their skills.

I got into U Chicago!! The leadership skills that the Hack for LA team were integral to my acceptance!

Hack for LA allowed me to refine my ability to work with others, expand my knowledge regarding web development, and introduced me to peers and mentors who have been and continue to be invaluable resources to me. Thanks to this organization, I've found my first job as a software engineer!

Hack for LA was a great resume and experience booster as someone who had just graduated from a UX bootcamp but had minimal real-world experience in the field. Working on the HfLA website and Design Systems projects allowed me to collaborate with not only other designers but also researchers and developers, and I was fortunate enough to receive mentorship from PM Hana Stevenson, whose career advice was keen and invaluable. I can say with confidence that my work at HfLA, especially for the Design Systems team, helped me land my new role as Product Designer at Lumanu.

My experience with Hack for LA helped me land a job offer for Lead Product Designer! In joining HfLA, I was looking to work with cross-functional team members and launch products that empower users and communities. The overall experience has helped me improve my personal tenacity, confidence as a design leader, and ability to communicate effectively. HfLA has been an invaluable resource for me, and I am thankful for the colleagues, professional growth, and support I’ve gained along the way.

I was applying for an MBA program to help pivot my career into Product Management. The time I spent learning new skills and working with like-minded individuals played a significant role in building my applicant profile.

HfLA gave me a 360-degree view of the UX processes. I was transitioning from academia to UX and I got hands-on experience working with diverse stakeholders in an agile environment. I worked with great team members who were always willing to collaborate and on task. I am thankful to HfLA for this awesome opportunity and I strode with confidence in UX job interviews. I landed a job as a UX Researcher at Symplr.

I landed my first full-time role as a Product Designer @ DocuSign! Working with the HfLA team helped build up my confidence as a designer in a structured and supportive environment. It’s a great opportunity to put what I’ve learned into practice and improve both my design and collaboration skills.

Got a contract software engineering job (through a 3rd party company) at Facebook! I'm excited, but the journey has just started, got a long way to go!

I got my first JOB in tech!! I learned so much from contributing to Hack for LA and I will use all of it in my new job!

I learned how to create an inclusive community and working environments where the there are not artificial boundaries to personal growth

I recently joined joined Homebot as a full-time Technical Product Manager! I'm working with APIs, integrations, and automations - so grateful for all my experience at Hack for LA and for all the people I got to work with both in the 100 Automations project and across other projects (and still do occasionally). Feel free to reach out if you ever want to connect or share experiences!

Hack for LA gave me valuable experience working with product, UI/UX, and data teams. I met some awesome people, learned a lot, and got a new job!

Hack For LA gave me a great foundation in working with others in a shared codebase. Not only did my experience here help lead me to a new job, I truly enjoyed all of my interactions with everyone on the team. Special shout out to Josh Bubar for being so welcoming and always happy to help others.

I joined hack4LA in April of 2020 right after graduating General Assembly it was my first design role outside of the boot camp. I was able to work on the 311 data project which is improving the lives of Angelinos. Using that foundation I was able to get a few freelance positions and eventually transition to being in the first cohort of Amazon's User Experience Research and Design Apprenticeship.

I created documentation for the HackForLA Website project and everyone on the team loved it! It feels very nice to receive affirmations of appreciation.

I got a job at TCS as a Software Developer.

I could never commit to contributing to open source. The fear of not knowing enough kept me from applying my skills and full of imposter syndrome, until I began volunteering for Hack for LA. In addition to being able to help my community, I also gained access to a treasure-trove of resources through my colleagues, and found mentors that would've been inaccessible otherwise. I can only describe my experience with Hack for LA as feeling very lucky and look forward to continuing to contributing in the future.

Hack for LA is where I really had my first hands-on exposure to civic technology. Bonnie Wolfe and Dean Church really helped me bring the record clearance project off the ground and we currently have a tech lead and a development team building designs that our design/research team worked on. I also got an offer for my first civic tech design position today and am grateful for Hack for LA playing an integral part of it. Shoutout to the Record Clearance team and for all the hard work over the past few months!

I have begun a community fellowship with Code for America! We will be working on ways to allow justice impacted people easier access to public resources.

I came to Hack for LA in 2016 as a full-stack web developer and was part of the founding group of Food Oasis LA. I originally joined this community because I wanted to make the transition to Product Management and gain experience building projects for real-world needs. Eventually, I joined the leadership team and ran our Downtown LA hack nights from 2017 to 2019 before stepping back to focus on personal endeavors.

I met some great people and built some cool apps.

Food Oasis has an average of 400 unique visitors a day. Our database in Los Angeles has over 1000 listings. Since April 2020, community volunteers have helped us verify over 750 listings. We have proven that 30% of pantries have closed. The Department of Public Health just asked for a copy of our database to share with their nutritionists. We created an API and forked foodoasis.net to included Northern California, Oregon, and Hawaii.

HfLA makes me feel like I'm a part of the community, and though I might not be as active as I'd like, this group provides immense comfort! I'm glad to be part of the team here.

I am grateful to the Hackforla team to give me an opportunity to contribute to their work and do what I like to do the best

I joined the Shared Housing project and made a lot of friends with great people who helped me improve my coding skills. I learned how to work better on a team and eventually got a new job through one of my newly found friends here at HackforLA. I also enjoyed working on a project that was meant to help the people of LA, and it motivated me to keep learning front end development skills.

Hack for LA has given me the opportunity to make connections with the people of Los Angeles tech community and local government that I would not have otherwise made. It is a joy to build things that actually help our community with people that are all focused on solving critical community challenges.

I got a job as a product manager! This is something I have been working towards for awhile and Hack for LA helped me build the skills to achieve it.

I built my first page for hack for la! and it is this one!!! ...the wins page

As an over 50 year old career changer I was amazed at how supportive the community at HackforLA was in my finding meaningful employment in the local tech industry. Through exposure and application of Agile frameworks and user centered design thinking my time and practice at HfLA was instrumental in building my modern application skills competency and confidence. A direct result of my time at HfLA is that I was able to ace my 45min White Boarding interview where I had to diagram a workflow from end to end and identify areas that would benefit from automation.

I took the skills I have learned from HackforLA projects and applied them at work to orchestrate the launch of an MVP to help with Wildfire Mitigation throughout Southern California