TransTech to offer training academy for aspiring trans coders

By John Mack Freeman

Angelica Ross recently founded TransTech as a nonprofit in Chicago. Having personally experienced the trials that can affect trans people in the workplace and during job searches, Ross is seeking to help others avoid many of the trials that she had to go through. Via The Advocate:

“TransTech emerged from my story, [which] is the same story for so many trans women of color,” Ross tells The Advocate. “When I began my transition, I was fired from my job, estranged from my family, and introduced to sex work and the adult industry.”

Soon the technologically-inclined Ross decided to teach herself web coding and graphic design, and was able to become successfully self-employed as a freelancer.

“Over the course of 10 years … I discovered technology as a path to independence for trans people. I no longer had to face on-the-job discrimination and harassment if I didn’t want to,” she explained. “I could log-in and make money without people caring about what I look or sound like.”

The goal of the project is to empower trans people with coding and design skills that they can use to be successful in the freelance and independent contractor marketplaces.  While the project is fully funded for the first cycle, the organization is still growing and hopes to expand its efforts in the future. For those interested in learning more, visit their website at http://transtechsocial.org/

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