.NET Foundation Campaign: Jerome Hardaway

Who am I?

I am a Google Developer Expert (Web), Twilio Champion, Developer Advocate for Quicken Loans, Javascript Engineer and Geek At Arms (Founder and Executive Director) of Vets Who Code, a 501(c)3 veteran-led charitable non-profit dedicated to filling the nation's technical skills gap with early-stage transitioning veterans and military spouses through remote software development training.

Why I'm Running

I'm running because as I grow within my own journey of being a forever student of programming, I see places where my military and leadership experience can add value to make the community more inclusive. When I first started helping U.S. Veterans the question was asked to me, " Can veterans even learn how to code?" and now six years later I have personally heralded 250 veterans into the industry, using code. I've done that with Javascript and now, I intend to use .NET as a tool to continue the mission of creating pathways for veterans and others that are underrepresented in tech to navigate the journey and become programmers by being a boots on the ground leader within the foundation. I used Javascript to earn the nickname of "Captain America of the Web" and it has been my shield, but as I ask for more from myself to help more people my mission is to use C# and .NET as Mjolnir to show others who don't come from the common paths of tech that they are in fact, worthy.

My Community Contributions

  • Trained 250 veterans in software engineering leading to $17.6 million in salaries
  • Speaker at Juneteenth Conf
  • Speaker at In Streaming Color
  • Organizer for UndergroundJS
  • Worked with Etsy to double its diversity and inclusion employee rate
  • Selected to speak at RenderATL
  • Work with veterans highlighted By StackOverflow
  • Work with veterans highlighted By HackerRank
  • Work with veterans highlighted by Glitch
  • Interviewed by RoadtripNation for award-winning documentary in transitioning to new careers - Documentary was nominated for an Emmy
  • Work in Accessibilty highlighted by CBS sports
  • Speaker at CascadiaJS 2019
  • Speaker at JSConf Colombia 2019
  • Speaker at UndergroundJS 2019
  • Keynote Speaker at OSCON 2018
  • Speaker at Twilio's SIGNALConf
  • Honored by President Barack Obama for achievements in bringing veterans into the tech sector
  • Speaker at SRE Conf
  • Invited to Facebook HQ as Guest of Honor during Veterans Day week to speak about how Open source has helped veterans transition into civilian society .
  • Invited to DreamForce to connect and meet with companies and speak about veterans and tech careers.

Contact Information