Birthright Israel, the organization famed for its all-expense-paid trips to Israel for young Diaspora Jews, is launching the “Brightcode” program, which will offer eligible Jewish adults a free full-stack coding training boot camp – with the ultimate goal of finding them employment in Israel’s burgeoning hi-tech sector.
The Brightcode program’s initial cohort of 20-25 Jewish young adults (ages 18-32) will begin their program in June with a five-month virtual course, which will be followed by a month-long period of in-person study and scheduled social activities in Tel Aviv.
The boot camp encompasses practical, in-depth training in major programming languages, such as Python, HTML, CSS, JAVASCRIPT and React.
This is part of a larger effort by the Israel Innovation Authority, led by CEO Dror Bin, to deal with a shortage of skilled tech professionals required to maintain Israel’s technological leadership and enable its continued growth. The IIA has previously supported training for other underrepresented groups, such as Arab-Israelis and Ultra-Orthodox Jews.
“Brightcode can play a significant role in helping grow and develop our pool of skilled tech professionals," Bin said. "I call on those who meet the requirements to come to Israel, gain top-tier training and become a part of our cutting-edge innovation ecosystem for the duration of the program. We need your spirit and commitment.”
“Brightcode is the perfect win-win solution,” according to Birthright Israel board member Shelly Landsmann, an entrepreneur and former general manager of Microsoft Israel. “The Israeli tech ecosystem will greatly benefit from enthusiastic young people from North America who can contribute their unique skill sets – including knowledge of business culture and English language proficiency – while the participants gain valuable work experience, coupled with the opportunity to spend time living in Israel and getting to know the land and its people.”Birthright Israel is the largest educational tourism organization in the world. Through its mission to connect Diaspora Jews to their historic homeland, it has provided over 750,000 journeys to the State of Israel.
“As the largest educational tourism organization in the world, we understand that we have power, not only in strengthening Israel’s connection to Diaspora Jewry but also in strengthening the hi-tech industry,” declared Birthright Israel CEO Gidi Mark.