About Us

Seneca Foundation creates deliberate, early on-ramps into the tech industry for Black and Latinx recent high school graduates via our paid software development training program and internships with a Seneca Partner Company.

We were born of the belief that careers in software development provide the highest likelihood of economic mobility, career advancement, financial security, and civic leadership. Under the current system, a young adult must wait 4 years and amass $40,000+ in college debt before they can start earning income and working in the software development field.

We believe there’s another way.

As a Chicago-based initiative, we know there is incredible, diverse, untapped technical talent and potential in the 25,000 students that graduate each year from the Chicagoland school system. We are dedicated to creating a smooth pathway for these young adults into a fulfilling tech career (sooner, rather than later), and to relentlessly working toward a more equitable and inclusive technical workforce.

Our Team

Wa-jiw Casey

Engineering Program Manager
Wa-jiw, a graduate of Michigan State University, brings over 18 years of software engineering experience to Seneca Foundation. He is a very passionate computer hardware and full-stack software designer/developer with experience that ranges from modern web development to assembly programming. Wa-jiw’s specialties include: Open Source Full-Stack Web Development, Linux Server Administration, Modern Javascript/CSS Library Development, CMS Development, and Database Design. When Wa-jiw is not working, he enjoys spending time with his family and playing board games.
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Taylor-Imani Gates, Ph.D.

Post-Secondary Success Manager
Dr. Gates is a seasoned Educator and native of the south-Chicagoland area. Dr. Gates’ Doctoral degree is from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in Educational Policy, Organization & Leadership. Taylor-Imani’s area of expertise reflects serving communities of color who are historically and traditionally underrepresented in the United States. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, researching and spending time with her beautiful family.
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