ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Tampa Bay area man is using the tools he learned in the tech world to uplift an entire community.
Brian Peret is teaching people computer coding, and dozens are entering into the workforce with skills they learned in the courses at CODEBOXX Academy in St. Petersburg.
Coding is something Peret said almost anyone can do.
“Technology is not something just for someone MIT educated, technology is there for anybody who is willing to work hard enough to find the answer to a question that has not yet been answered,” Peret said. “You can’t do what you don’t see first. The first thing we have to do is show them the potential of all of this out here.”
He feels passionately about offering coding to people in underrepresented communities. Peret said he started working in the technology field right after he was released from prison in 2020.
“What I had, and what was really one of the big cruxes of my life, somebody gave me an internship and a laptop and some guidance on what it meant to be a developer,” he said.
Peret said he’s had his struggles over the years, but once he made the decision to change his life, his career has been a lot like a start-up tech company that took off.
He’s now the director of CODEBOXX Academy.
He’s able to offer that same opportunity to people like Cody Colby.
“It’s encouraging to know that other people have had similar struggles and they faced them using this program, as well to better their life,” Colby said.
Colby is planning to take what he learned here to change his career path and serve as an example for the formerly incarcerated and homeless men he’s dedicated his life to helping.
Asche Binger is one of the instructors there.
“I had no background in coding. My background was managing my MySpace and my Tumblr and changing the colors of my profile, which I had no idea was coding until I got here,” Binger said.
After taking the full time, four-month course there, she’s become an expert. Now, she’s using the same message that Peret emphasizes: "If you give a few months of your time and you can change your life through technology."
“I own the house that I live in, in Campbell Park Neighborhood Association. I have a leadership role on the chamber of commerce, I gave a TED Talk. I’ve spoken at nerd night. I’m a mentor to people out there. This is a thing that is possible,” Peret said. “Tech made all that happen for me.”
Peret said there’s no cheat code to beating the odds, but if you start with coding, you definitely have a better shot at it.
CODEBOXX Academy offers courses online and in person. They also have an outreach program that offers scholarships. The company also gives away laptops to eliminate any barriers for people who want to take the courses.
