The 2014 Fellowship Applicants

Code for America’s 2014 Fellowship application closed at midnight last night and we’re happy to announce that 658 talented individuals applied for the program. To those of you who applied — thank you so much for your dedication to civic tech. You will be receiving an email from us shortly with next steps.

For those of you who are curious to see who applies for our Fellowship, here’s some preliminary data:

WHO APPLIED

In keeping with our efforts to reach out to groups that are often under-represented, we’re happy to say that this year’s applicants come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Of the 658 applicants who applied to the fellowship program 33 percent identify as female, one percent either don’t identify as a specific gender or identify as gender “other”, and 50 percent identify as a racial minority. While we know we can always improve our efforts in reaching out to diverse communities, we think this is a step in the right direction. Our goal is to have a Fellowship class that reflects the communities we work with.

WHAT THEY DO

In addition to those people considered traditional “coders”, our fellowship applicants show a wide range of talents and skills. While 20 percent listed back-end development as their primary skill and 12 percent listed front-end development, we also made an effort to encourage others to apply in order to produce well-rounded teams. Eighteen percent of applicants are researcher / analysts, 17 percent are product / project managers, seven percent are UX / UI designers, and three percent are data scientists.

Check out the chart for more info:

COMMON DESCRIPTORS

This year we asked our fellows to offer up three words that others might use to describe them. Common descriptors included: Creative, Curious, Dedicated, Diligent, Enthusiastic, Focused, Hardworking, Honest, Innovative, Intelligent, Leader, Motivated, Passionate, Reliable, Resourceful, and Smart.

Naturally all of these positive words made us excited to meet everyone. We look forward to next steps with these talented individuals and know that the future ahead will be a bright one.

For more info on next year’s fellowship email info[@]codeforamerica.org or if you’d like to get involved in CfA right now, contribute to an existing project, connect with your local Brigade, or attend an upcoming event.

Questions? Comments? Hit us up @codeforamerica.

Original post