Code for Philly, you blew us away. We had over 110 applicants for our first ever Tech Fellowship sponsored by Comcast! With only three available roles, it made the review and selection process very challenging. Given the strong interest and applicants, we’re going to explore future fellowship opportunities.
To select finalists we performed annonymized application reviews and follow-up video interviews to asess candidates on a handful of factors such as,
- How well would the applicant benefit from this fellowship to assist in their entry into the tech industry?
- Does the applicant have the current tech skills and willingness to learn additional skills to make contributions to the respective project?
- Does the applicant have the time/availability to successfully contribute to the fellowship?
- Would the applicant’s presence bring more diverse voices to Code for Philly?
- Does the applicant convey excitement about using their talents to support local nonprofits?
- Does the applicant demonstrate the collaborative skills for working with project team members?
With that said, we’d like to extend a warm welcome to Sara, Robert, and Ioannis - our first fellowship class. Read on below for brief introductions.
Sara Gormley
PROJECT / PRODUCT MANAGEMENT FELLOW
Slack Handle @sxgormley
With an academic background in psychology, passion for food and urban farming, and experience in data analysis and project management, I have a knack for collaborative problem-solving, making a mean peanut sauce, and managing large datasets. I like to get my hands dirty and make sense of the world around me. Applying big data principles to systemic problems, synthesizing results, and watching large datasets transform into clear insights allows me to share data-driven solutions and make sense of the world around me.
Robert Richey
PRODUCTION ENGINEERING (DEVOPS) FELLOW
Slack Handle @robertrichey
A native of Warminster, Pennsylvania, I initially pursued a dual degree at West Chester University in music education and classical guitar performance. Shortly after graduating 2012, I sustained a life-altering spinal cord injury in the Atlantic City surf resulting in quadriplegia. After spending a year receiving inpatient and outpatient therapy at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia, I returned to WCU as a graduate student in music composition with an interest in computer-based music and accessible performance practices. This interest led to the completion of master’s degrees in both music composition and computer science in 2018. My composition thesis, a sonification project utilizing training data collected from a cyclist, was selected for inclusion in the 2019 International Computer Music Conference. I’m passionate about applying my skills to projects that are creative, impactful, and serve to enrich and improve the lives of people by further integrating them into the communities in which they live.
Ioannis Sporidis-Foster
FRONT-END REACT ENGINEERING FELLOW
Slack Handle @dmjohnspor
Originally from Greece, I moved to the United States in 2010 and have been teaching elementary World Languages ever since. My passion for software engineering led me to enroll and graduate from University of Pennsylvania’s Coding Boot Camp in the College of Liberal and Professional Studies. Now, I’m excited to start this new journey as a Software Developer, and what better way than by being part of the Code for Philly Fellowship? My husband (a Public Health and Social Work professional) and I are both involved in non-profit donorship and volunteerism. I’m thrilled to bring my talents and enthusiasm to the Prevention Point organization as part of this Fellowship. I’m fluent in Greek, English and Spanish and in my limited free time, I study French. I love cooking, I’m a former semi-professional pianist, I’m a big Star Wars fan, and avid Lego set collector. He currently lives in Wilmington with his husband and their beagle Apollo.
Read about Ioannis’ experience working on the Prevention Point Project
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