[eli_gottlieb]

It seems to me like many of the problems here shouldn't necessarily be addressed by specially-targeted programs run by the tech industry. That will just make things more fragmented for people like Maurice who might want to be, for instance, mechanical engineers instead of programmers.

It seems like the genuine ways to address this would be:

* Some kind of telecom/internet access becomes a social right, provided universally. The easiest actual ways to do this are municipal public libraries, open libraries at community colleges, and municipal wifi.

* Transit and mobility subsidies for the poor, or possibly just for everyone. It simply shouldn't happen at all that someone lives mere miles away, in the same city, from hackathons and other educational/career-building activities and yet can't afford the trip. I also can't count the number of poorer people I've met who simply have fewer chances in life because they were born in a rural area and cannot afford to move until there is a signed-and-sealed job offer with relocation provided.

* Trades training and job counseling as part of the public education system. Because duh.

Making even the most basic infrastructure and opportunities for-profit has resulted in a "You must be this well-off to enter" barrier for things that we like to believe are normal and universal. We should make them actually universal.