Conversations on AI: Beyond Code at Cal

Inside the event

Part 1 — Panel: Introducing Beyond Code Collective

A moderated panel that introduces Beyond Code Collective to the Berkeley community—the why behind its founding, the model, and the cohort tracks that make it different from any other workforce program on the market today.

THEMES FOR THE CONVERSATION

• The founding story — Cristina Mancini’s path from leading Black Girls Code to launching Beyond Code Collective. Why the moment demanded a new organization—one built explicitly to serve everyone, from teenagers to career pivoters to retiring athletes.

• From Black Girls Code to Beyond Code — What was learned from more than a decade of building an inclusive tech education model, and how those lessons translate into a program designed for a much broader audience.

• The cohort model in practice — Beyond Code Catalysts, After The Game, and the emerging industry-specific tracks (athletics, construction, and others). What does a cohort actually look like, and why is that structure the right answer for AI-era workforce development?

• Re-educating a workforce, not replacing it — The framing that AI eliminates jobs misses the real story—which is that every job is being rewritten. How does Beyond Code think about upskilling, credentialing (CompTIA, Salesforce, AWS), and the wraparound support that makes retraining actually stick?

• The role of community and place — The Forge model as a “third space” outside traditional schools and workplaces. What would it mean to bring that model, even temporarily, to a campus like Berkeley?

• What Berkeley can do — A direct call to the audience: how alumni, students, faculty, and employer partners in the room can plug in—as learners, mentors, hiring partners, or funders.

Part 2 — Hands-On Training

Immediately following the panel, the Beyond Code team leads a hands-on training session for attendees who want to move from inspired to enrolled.