The Pipeline Problem: How Coded by: Is Building Philadelphia's Next Tech Founders

Tech is one of the fastest-growing industries in the country, but who gets in early is still wildly uneven.

Sylvester Mobley saw that gap firsthand. After years in the Air Force and a tour in Iraq with the Army National Guard, he came home to Philadelphia in 2013 and started working in the local tech scene. He noticed he was often the only person of color in the room. If that didn't change, he reasoned, whole groups would be locked out of the wealth tech was creating.

So in 2014 he started teaching free web development classes in the computer lab of a South Philadelphia recreation center, to fewer than 15 kids. He's said some parents pulled their children out of class so they could play basketball in the gym next door, as if sports were the only road to success. He kept going. That program became Coded by Kids.

Here's where it stands today at codedby.org, the home of what is now called Coded by: (the old codedbykids.com address leads there):

• 2,500+ children served across 30 locations in three states
• Free programs for every student, regardless of age or skill level
• A full ladder from first line of code to first startup: classroom programs, workshops, a Tech + Innovation Internship, and the Innovation League
• New in October 2026: a Temple University host site, bringing workshops to more of the city

The workshops show the thinking. In one, students learn HTML and CSS by building a fan page for something they love. In another, they look at the apps they use every day like product designers and use AI tools to redesign one to be safer, fairer, or more useful. That's not just coding. It's judgment.

The organization's stated mission is to help close the generational wealth gap by preparing underrepresented youth to lead in tech. It pairs education with access to mentors, resources, and capital. Mobley's 2018 Philadelphia Award recognized exactly that work.

Leadership has grown too. According to Technical.ly, Mobley handed the CEO role to his wife, Danae Mobley, in 2024 so he could focus on Plain Sight Capital, a venture firm backing early-stage founders. Along the way, Coded by: helped spin up 1Philadelphia, a coalition of 30+ partners working toward equitable tech in the city.

What the industry can take from this: the pipeline problem isn't only a talent problem. It's an access problem, to tools, to role models, and to capital, and those can be built.

At IndeedBlack, we meet candidates when they're ready to work. Organizations like this one are why more of them will be ready.

Visit codedby.org to learn more or volunteer. Sylvester Mobley is the founder.