CREATING CODING CAREERS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Founder and CEO of Open Heart Leaders
April Laster, Founder and CEO of Open Heart Leaders, is a pioneering figure in mental health and education. As the only African American woman leading this organization, she offers comprehensive services to marginalized communities. Now also the Executive Director of Heart Leaders Academy, a Charter High School, April focuses on culturally responsive mental health and education. An accomplished life coach and speaker, she addresses disparities in trauma-informed treatment and advocates for dismantling systemic racism in funding. April is committed to changing the world one open heart at a time.
Accomplished & dynamic professional with military experience and a record of servant leadership: Respected for helping organizations innovate, thrive, and sustain. Capable of optimizing resources to achieve core mission by earning the confidence of key stakeholders and establishing a positive and powerful diverse network. Verifiable success in creating and implementing complex initiatives, creating value-added programs, driving successful risk management initiatives, improving health and stability of operations, increasing organizational visibility, and exceeding financial goals. Lead successful team initiatives with cross functional teams: Dedicated to enhancing performance by analyzing existing processes and implementing effective systems, strategies, and policies. Persuasive communicator who engenders trust while steering teams with 10-years' experience managing diverse groups and best utilization of resources.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Professor
Professor Lee has completed her first novel, "As Time Flies," after 30+ years of teaching on the undergraduate level at various California community colleges and several ABA-accredited law schools around the country; practicing law, authoring private placement memorandums, and participating in several corporate finance debt offerings and mergers/acquisitions in a banking environment. She authored several law review articles published in the California Western Law Review (and cited by the Harvard Journal on Legislation), the University of Michigan Journal of Race & Law, and the Rutgers Computer and Law Technology Journal. She served on the Michigan Task Force on Race & Gender, is a past President of The San Diego Urban Bankers, was honored as Professor of the Year in 2006, has been active in the National Association of Urban Bankers, the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association, the Earl B. Gilliam Bar Assoc, Jack & Jill of America, Lawyers Club of San Diego, the National Bar Assoc, San Diego County Bar Assoc, Homer S. Brown Bar Assoc, Ingham County Bar Assoc, various Committees of the State Bars of both Michigan & California and the American Bar Association, as well as numerous Law School Faculty Committees.
Marissa Roberts is an indispensable pillar of support for our organization, contributing significantly to our mission.
With an unwavering commitment to our cause, Marissa has played a pivotal role in propelling our organization forward. Marissa Roberts is a champion of our organization's core values. She wholeheartedly believes in the transformative power of our mission and tirelessly advocates for its advancement. Her unwavering belief in our work serves as a beacon of inspiration for our entire team.
We are immensely grateful for Marissa's unwavering support and dedication.
Say hello to Memo Monge, our digital craftsman. His passion for building digital tools, forged through his journey of becoming a self-taught software engineer, is contagious, inspiring our learners to see coding not merely as a skill, but as a creative avenue for problem-solving and innovation.
Mike is passionate about helping underrepresented people break into tech and helping companies build high-performance engineering teams out of often-overlooked talent. Mike took a leap of faith and chose to start Creating Coding Careers, a non-profit organization dedicated to opening the front door in tech.
"Now not only am I doing what I was meant to do but I'm helping others. Which proves that when we dare to trust ourselves, that's when we can live a life where we are not only fulfilled, but we position ourselves to help many others live the life of their dreams. And now it's my life's work to show people that there are many pathways into tech. There is an opportunity right here, right now to change the trajectory, not only of the lives of so many overlooked Americans but also to shift corporate culture in America to live up to the racial and economic dreams of our society. This is why we are building the front door into tech. We are creating generational wealth, through employer driven earn and learn pathways for people historically excluded from tech."
"I am humbled to have helped so many people get better through my online training, coaching programs, and mentorship. Having launched more than 100 student careers and have grads working at IBM/RedHat, Apple, Walmart Labs, Sony, AWS, Facebook, Deloitte, Trust & Will, and many more amazing tech companies, I am blessed to be making a difference in so many lives. My superpower is helping gritty people grow and get better at writing quality software." - Mike Roberts
Job Titles:
- Bay Vista 's Senior Project Manager
Bay Vista's Senior Project Manager Ricardo Curtis II, made an impression on San Diego as a young college athlete choosing San Diego State University over offers from 92 colleges and universities.
After his successful collegiate career, Rico had a 10-year professional football career playing in San Diego, Omaha, St. Louis, Canada and overseas.
Rico began his business career, spending nine years managing vendor relationships at Raytheon Systems as a logistics and facilities manager in planning and procurement. There he secured inventory and ensured the delivery of millions of dollars of protype equipment housed in multiple warehouses. Rico currently works directly with Bay Vista's CEO on cost containment, property acquisitions, handles multiple property operations and is a member of Bay Vista's strategic planning team. In the general community and as a Aztec Football Legacy Board Member, Rico continues to mentor young men. Despite his old football nickname "The Hitman", Rico is an emphatically attentive family man and is married to the beautiful talented songwriter and vocalist, Rebecca Jade, who despite her countrywide, international travel and island hoping, he's always ecstatic to welcome home.
This is not just a job for me, I love finding candidates their next Great Career opportunity. I make sure the position is right fit for the candidate and a cultural ADD for the company. I'm an Advocate for EQUITY, JUSTICE and EQUALITY and CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE. I'm an expert at Diversity recruiting/sourcing, talent acquisition, human resources, resource management, vendor management, salary negotiation, interviewing, consulting services, recruiting strategy, facilitation and project management and building business relationships built on excellence.