Stellar Soirée is LaunchCode's annual fundraising celebration. We gather our entire community for an awe-inspiring celebration that champions a cause that’s not just about coding, but about transforming lives! Together, we’ve shattered barriers and bridged gaps, unleashing the true potential of a diverse and inclusive tech workforce.
During the Soirée we take the time to honor five members of the LaunchCode’s ecosystem who exemplify the resounding change one person or organization can make in working toward a world where everyone - regardless of background or experience - has an opportunity to pursue a career in technology
TKC Holdings
Award: Stellar Emerging Employer Award
The Emerging Employer Partner award recognizes a company that has recently begun its partnership with LaunchCode, tapping into a talent pool of individuals with unique, transferable skills from our no-cost tech training programs.
This year, we are proud to present TKC Holdings with LaunchCode’s Stellar Emerging Partner Award!
TKC Holdings, Inc. is a parent company that specializes in serving the hospitality and corrections industries through its subsidiaries. Founded in 2016, TKC provides services such as food, personal care products, electronics, technology, and software solutions to clients, with a focus on delivering quality service, fostering employee growth, and maintaining innovation and integrity. Earlier this year in February, TKC Holdings hired their first-ever LaunchCode apprentice and has since taken on three more apprentices in a five month period of time. In fact, this includes Alejandra Rodriquez, who will be featured in our video later on and is here to celebrate with us tonight. Thank you to TKC Holdings for investing in future generations of homegrown tech talent in St. Louis, and for your emerging partnership with LaunchCode.
Broadcom
Award: Stellar Enduring Employer Award
The Enduring Employer Partner Award honors a company that stands at the forefront of innovative tech hiring strategies, making a significant impact by championing non-traditional talent pipelines.
This year, we are proud to present Broadcom with LaunchCode’s Stellar Enduring Employer Award!
Broadcom’s Mainframe Vitality Program began in 2019 as an initiative to address the shortage of skilled mainframe professionals in today’s workforce. In order to address the shortage of skilled mainframe professionals, Broadcom began its Mainframe Vitality Program in 2019 to bring new generations of talent into the mainframe workforce. Since first partnering with LaunchCode in 2019, Broadcom has taken on 58 LaunchCode apprentices through this program, providing a bridge to stable, well-paid tech careers for community members in St. Louis and beyond. Despite any roadblocks we’ve experienced along the way- including a whole pandemic- we’ve been able to help nearly five dozen individuals take the next step in their careers and work toward closing a significant workforce gap. Thank you to Broadcom for being an example of a strategic, impactful employer partnership that endures & grows over the years.
Pluralsight One
Award: Stellar Community Partner Award
The Stellar Community Partner Award honors an individual, family, or organization who has helped LaunchCode achieve its mission to pave pathways for people of all backgrounds and experiences through philanthropy, volunteerism, and/or collaboration.
This year, we proudly present Pluralsight One with LaunchCode’s Stellar Community Partner Award!
Pluralsight One is the social impact initiative of Pluralsight, and its mission is to close the social sector's technology skills gap and empower people from underrepresented communities to join and thrive in the global technology workforce. They do that by making Pluralsight’s technology more accessible to nonprofits and K-12 schools through specialized pricing and support, partnering with enterprises to diversify their technical talent, deploying philanthropic grants to mission-aligned partners from the Pluralsight One Fund, and mobilizing Pluralsight’s global workforce to donate their time and talents. Since Pluralsight One began partnering with LaunchCode in 2022, they have generously donated more than $1 million to support our programs & services, while also providing hundreds of in-kind user licenses. Their generous gifts have made a variety of program innovations possible at LaunchCode, including self-paced learning for our graduates to grow their skill sets post-graduation, piloting a program to offer stipends to training participants most in need of support, and tech training for military personnel in the last months of their service to create a smooth transition to civilian employment. Additionally, we greatly value Pluralsight One’s commitment to trust-based philanthropy, ensuring their gifts are unrestricted so support can go to LaunchCode’s areas of most need. Thank you to Pluralsight One for being a true partner to LaunchCode, and generously supporting our work and community.
Aleesha Dawson
Award: Stellar Alumni Award
The Stellar Alumni Award honors a LaunchCode alum who has advanced significantly in their tech career and actively supports LaunchCode’s mission, helping others access life-changing opportunities in technology.
This year, we proudly present the Stellar Alumni Award to Aleesha Dawson!
Aleesha joined LaunchCode’s Full-Time WebDev course in 2017 while working as an adjunct math professor. After completing the course, she became an Instructional Assistant and later joined a GIS training program with the NGA, leading to a Software Developer role at the U.S. Department of Defense. Aleesha then transitioned into Customer Success roles at Sonatype and GitLab, where she’s now a Senior Customer Success Engineer.
Beyond her career, Aleesha gives back by mentoring LaunchCode students, teaching coding to high schoolers, and supporting inmates through the former JusTech program. She also contributes as a monthly donor to ensure LaunchCode’s continued success.
Thank you, Aleesha, for your dedication and congratulations on your achievements!
Matt Hernando
Award: LaunchCode’s Stellar Staff Award
The Stellar Staff Award honors a staff member who goes above and beyond in their work.
We are proud to present the Stellar Staff Award to Matt Hernando!
Matt, a former LaunchCode student, graduated from the Part-Time WebDev course in July 2022. After graduation, he quickly earned a promotion at World Wide Technology and now serves as a Level 2 Analytics Engineer. Currently, Matt is an Instructional Assistant for the Women+ SQL course and has previously supported the Women+ Data Analysis courses.
Matt’s dedication to mentoring and supporting others is evident in his work with LaunchCode and beyond, including mentoring Pattonville High School’s STEM team to win first place in World Wide Technology’s Student STEM Forum. Thank you, Matt, for your commitment and contributions to the community!
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Thanks to all who supported LaunchCode’s mission in 2024! If you didn’t have the chance to attend Stellar Soirée but would like to contribute, visit launchcode.org/donate.