This year's fourth annual Tech & Innovation Internship was a blend of learning, collaboration, and growth, equipping each intern with new skills, unforgettable experiences, and invaluable insights. Reflecting on a summer that united a group of enthusiastic and talented students, we take great pride in these young innovators for not only the projects they created, but their commitment and enthusiasm for the work. Read on to explore more about our interns and their remarkable experiences this summer.
Unique Experiences
Coded by's internship offers a unique opportunity for high school and college students in Philadelphia. Throughout this summer program, interns collaborate in teams to identify problems, validate solutions, and build their own tech startups. They refine their problem-solving skills and gain hands-on experience in product development, UI/UX design, and software engineering. The program also connects them with local tech professionals, allows visits to industry partner offices, and helps expand their networks.
“The internship exceeded my expectations. I got to go to so many inspiring and cool places. I got to work with great people and most importantly I got to grow on my skills in the tech field.” - Tasnim
Learning from Philly’s Best Leaders
One of the standouts of our internship program, consistently favored by our students, is the opportunity to meet mentors from various sectors of the tech industry. By visiting the offices of our partners, interns gain firsthand insight into the tech world, learn from industry leaders, and expand their professional networks—opening doors to where a tech career can lead.
We kicked off the summer with a tour of Infinite Blue, where interns not only learned about the company’s operations but also engaged in a problem ideation workshop. Next, we visited the SEI campus to meet senior executives, explore their data center, and appreciate their art collection. A highlight was our trip to New York, where we visited Uber's NYC headquarters and witnessed their dedication to innovation and teamwork. At Seer Interactive, we met with CEO & Vice President Wil Reynolds, who shared his entrepreneurial journey and the founding of Seer. Our interns also participated in a financial literacy workshop at JPMorganChase, engaging in discussions about setting financial goals, budgeting, and understanding credit scores. For their final site visit, interns toured the Comcast Technology Center, where a panel of Comcast BENgineers offered invaluable advice, enriching their aspirations in the tech field.
These experiences provide our interns with deeper insights into their potential future career paths. Patrick enjoyed “being able to visit other companies and see how they function on a day-to-day basis.” While other interns appreciated how approachable and insightful our partners were with them, sharing not only advice but how they got to where they are today.
Building Teamwork
We aim to provide our interns with real world experiences by having them learn what it is like to work in teams, pull your skills and ideas to create something better together. By forming groups consisting of a Product Manager, Developer, and UI/UX Designer, our interns deepen their role-specific knowledge while enhancing their teamwork abilities. “I made several new connections, some new friends, and most importantly, I learned how to cooperate with a team,” said Spencer.
“My main takeaway from this summer is the idea that the success of an idea is dependent on many factors (tech, business, design). All three of these fields play a crucial role in the decisions to support an idea.” - Olutoba
Becoming a Startup Founder
Our programming extends beyond tech education. We aim to inspire our students to elevate their skills and envision themselves as founders of the next groundbreaking startup and turn into tech leaders. When challenged to brainstorm problems, validate solutions, and create their own startups, they produced some truly impressive products.
100% of students stated that this experience increased their interest in the tech space. And more than 80% of students said the internship increased their interest in startups.
SafePlate is an app to help people with food allergies, intolerances, and dietary restrictions find accommodating dining options and food. The core feature of SafePlate is a search model where users can find accommodating local dining options, but additional features include a barcode scanner, curated suggestions from artificial intelligence, and community reviews.
beautique is a customer relationship management based website that allows beauty freelancers to affordably advertise and list their services on our website. With beautique, beauty freelancers and their customers can avoid the hassle of hindered visibility and feel like their beauty selves sooner!
Repairo is a free mobile platform that enables a centralized way to connect landlords needing services and professional contractors needing work. The user experience is tailored to each user, enabling various features such as chatbox, in-app fiscal transitions, and reviewing capabilities.
ConnectCare envisions a world where technology and innovation bridges the gap of health care equity in the U.S. that disproportionately affects low income and minority communities.
Cash Cow is a budgeting app for young adults to help track their expenses and loans. Our app allows users to manage their student loans, credit card loans, and purchases, through an engaging and simplified experience. Cash Cow strives to empower young adults to confidently take control of their finances.
PenPath is a website that utilizes AI editing and aims to help authors be able to publish their stories in a faster and in an affordable manner. Targeted towards small authors and aspiring authors who don’t have the money and time to go through the publishing process.
SociAll is a new, all-in-one social media management tool that provides everything your clients need, from scheduling to analytics, even a calendar to see your campaign from start to finish. With Sociall, our platform offers a seamless, clean, and user friendly approach to social media marketing.
>> Watch the interns present their projects and talk about their experiences during the showcase.
Lessons Learned
As the program concluded, it was evident that each intern gained something distinct from their experience. For some, it was the confidence to present ideas to professionals, while others acquired technical skills or developed meaningful professional relationships. Above all, the interns departed with a profound understanding of their fields, invaluable industry insights, and a rejuvenated sense of purpose as they embark on their next steps.
Strive for Excellence
Eli said that his biggest takeaway was having a growth mindset. “The biggest lesson I learned is do not be comfortable with what you have done so far but strive for greater than what you expect for yourself.” Adding that he learned how important it was to be open and to “connect with people in different positions as yourself since you never know what opportunity will present itself by meeting someone.”
Learn to Adapt
Diya learned that it is ok to fail. “You shouldn't be afraid of making mistakes and failing is okay, what really matters is how you learn from your failure.” While Patrick learned about his ability to adapt. “As a product manager, I filled lots of roles, and as the summer went on I learned about how I could fill a variety of positions. Each week I had to learn and succeed at new tasks or challenges based on our product's needs.”
Gaining Confidence
From presenting to coding, our interns gained confidence over the summer. Demilade’s main takeaway was how to make a pitch. “We had to iterate on our pitch so many times that I learned how to do it better. It's a good experience that just being in a class wouldn't teach me.” While Morgan grew as a developer, “I learned to build, style, and protect my application. Along with its data. I also feel more confident in coding now that I know the concepts.”
These takeaways reflect the program's impact not only in skill development but also in fostering personal growth, self-awareness, and confidence, setting the interns up for success in their academic and professional journeys.
Next Steps
All of our interns expressed that this experience increased their interest in tech. “Before this internship, I already had a passion for the field of tech, but this experience has fueled my passion for tech even further,” said Aashay. “This opportunity has reassured my passion for technology and using it in a positive way to help others,” added Gideon.
So what’s next for our interns? Whether they continue their journey in tech, or take the skills they learned in a different direction, we are confident that they will all continue to accomplish big things and make an impact in the world.
“My main takeaway for this summer is that you should keep searching for new ideas and problems because the right idea can have a huge impact,” said Aashay. “With tech the possibilities are endless: a solution can be created for every problem through innovation and creativity.” Gideon added “I believe technology is a very powerful tool that, when used correctly, can make an immense positive impact on my community and those in need.”
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The Tech & Innovation Internship gives high school and college students the opportunity to receive hands-on experience in a fast-paced, innovative startup environment, gaining valuable skills and the chance to make strategic connections in the tech and startup industries.
The 2024 internship was made possible thanks to our sponsors: JP Morgan Chase, Comcast NBCUniversal, Comic Relief, NBA Foundation, Seer Interactive, SEI, Infinite Blue, and Salesforce.
Interested in sponsoring Coded by: programs? Reach out to our development team.
