Justice Through Code Featured on Digital Trends Live

July 16, 2020

On Thursday morning, July 16, Justice Through Code Program Manager Aedan Macdonald appeared on Digital Trends Live to share about how the program increases tech opportunities for formerly incarcerated people. Digital Trends is a tech news, lifestyle, and information website that publishes news, reviews, guides, how-to articles, descriptive videos, and podcasts about technology and consumer electronics products. Each week they host a live news show about the latest tech news, products, and more. Aedan was interviewed for a ten-minute segment about how offering coding courses to formerly incarcerated people can create more sustainable careers. 

Providing a Path To Reintegration Through Coding

One of the great things about having a program like this at Columbia, and also with the companies that we are working with, is that there is this messaging constantly when you come home [from prison] that your life is over and the best you can hope for is a minimum wage job and that you'll never be able to earn a living wage. And I think throughout the course of our program we are really seeing these increases in self-efficacy and really a redefining of the self and what is possible for our students and their futures and especially for their families and their communities.

Aedan Macdonald, Justice Through Code Program Manager

Watch the full video below.