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Listen to or watch our recent Interview on Miami’s tech education future with Michael Ellison, co-founder and CEO of the nonprofit CodePath.org.
If Miami wants to lead as a global tech hub, it must do more than attract companies—it must create opportunities for talent of today, talent of tomorrow, and talent from all backgrounds.
“Talent is everywhere, but opportunity isn’t,” said Michael Ellison, co-founder and CEO of CodePath.org, the nonprofit reshaping computer science education and career pathways for underserved students.
For Ellison, the key to Miami’s future lies in embedding access directly where students are—community colleges and state schools—so the next generation of engineers can drive innovation in AI, cybersecurity, fintech, and beyond.
“It just is painfully obvious. You need to embed it where people are, and hopefully for free or as low a cost as you possibly can,” he explained.
You can listen to or watch the Opportunity Miami Interview with Ellison, who shares how CodePath is focusing on the tech skills needed to drive economic growth and how talent can shape Miami’s future as a global tech hub.
Tech as the Engine of Economic Growth
CodePath was created with a simple but powerful premise—that access to high-quality computer science education shouldn’t be limited to a handful of elite universities. Seed-funded by Facebook’s engineering team in 2017, the nonprofit set out to change the hiring pipelines of the world’s largest tech companies by building a talent pipeline from community colleges and state schools.
“I think of what is really driving economic growth in this country, and you’re looking at technology,” Ellison noted. “What’s driving GDP? What’s driving the stock market? What are the most valuable companies? What are the fastest-growing companies? That’s technology. Oh, it’s all tech.”
Miami as a Testbed
Since 2020, nearly 2,600 students have enrolled in CodePath courses across South Florida. And the momentum is only accelerating: the organization is targeting more than 700% growth in the region over the next five years. With CodePath connecting universities and employers, Miami is becoming one of the best places for students to launch high-impact tech careers and shape the future of technology.
Ellison moved to Miami during the pandemic from Silicon Valley, where the company is headquartered. They began working closely with Florida International University, Miami Dade College, and partners like the Knight Foundation and Miami-Dade County, to launch one of CodePath’s first place-based initiatives here. (Educational partners include Miami Dade College, Florida International University, and Florida Memorial University.)
“There was an energy, but also a focus for really driving change and becoming the next major tech hub,” he said of his early visits to Miami. “That made me really excited. And then it also led to an opportunity where people could really get things done.”
“Fast forward to the present, CodePath is serving about 16% of all computer science students in South Florida,” Ellison noted. Students are leaving with job offers that average $92,000 in first-year salaries. Many go on to highly competitive accelerators like Y Combinator and to companies such as Google, Microsoft, and JPMorgan.
Ellison attributes the rapid scalability of CodePath to courses that mirror real-world environments rather than just theory.
“Most schools focus more on theory and creating computer science professors. They’re not optimizing for the hyper-productive, hyper-competitive, full-contact sports of entrepreneurship and professional software engineering,” he said.
For Miami, this model is especially potent. The city is home to 88,000 small and mid-sized businesses, many led by first- and second-generation entrepreneurs. As AI and emerging technologies transform industries, Miami has the chance to democratize opportunity for the next generation of founders, engineers, and problem-solvers.
Ellison points to AI in particular as a once-in-a-generation opening: “AI is the biggest opportunity of our lifetimes for generational wealth. And if you understand the tools, it unlocks your creativity. What you can build, how you can build it.”
The Future of Miami’s Tech Talent
By 2028, CodePath expects to serve 100,000 students nationwide and to become the largest workforce development organization in the country.
And Miami is poised to lead if it doubles down on education, expands access, and ensures the quality of local talent remains a magnet for employers.
“We’re really optimizing for proficiency that stands out to employers, and then there’s an opportunity to really pull companies here. Major employers are going to start to move to Miami more, opening up more jobs and more opportunities,” Ellison said.
The story of CodePath is a reminder that the future of work, and the future of Miami, is being written not just in boardrooms but in classrooms across the region.
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