Code Academy

Learn from the best.

Our team is comprised of entrepreneurs, developers, designers, and passionate educators that have galvanized around the idea that the world is in dire need of more creators.

Carolyn Chandler — @chanan User Experience Instructor

Carolyn is the User Experience director at Manifest Digital where she manages the user-centered design activities for a variety of applications through all phases of their development; including user inputs and feedback, analyzing and documenting business requirements, and contributing to the development of design documents.

Carolyn specializes in process flows and wireframes, conducting stakeholder meetings, and coordinating with technical teams through development, testing, and launch phases. She co-wrote the book A Project Guide to UX Design, speaks at design conferences year-round, and is a leader and active member of the Chicago design community.

Jeff Cohen — @jeffcohen Web Development Instructor

Jeff's passion is to help beginners experience the joy of building websites for themselves. His friendly style, expert knowledge, and industry experience combine for a dynamic and enjoyable workshop experience. Jeff has worked with object-oriented programming languages and application frameworks for more than 15 years.

In 2008 Jeff started Purple Workshops, conducting beginner-level workshops in Ruby, Rails, and agile software techniques. He co-wrote the book Ruby on Rails for .NET Developers , published by Pragmatic Press, speaks at technical conferences throughout the year, and is now a Ruby on Rails contributor, teacher, and writer.

Shay Howe — @shayhowe HTML & CSS Instructor

As a designer and user interface engineer, Shay has a passion for solving problems while building creative and intuitive websites. Currently working at Groupon, he specializes in user interface design and development, particularly working closely with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Shay leads the HTML and CSS program at Code Academy, teaching beginners and advanced students how to become skilled front-end developers. He also serves as an at large mentor helping foster students in other Code Academy classes. Outside of Code Academy Shay stays actively involved in the community helping co-organize Refresh Chicago and UX Happy Hour Chicago.

Lead Mentors

Jim Jacoby — @manifestdigital

Jim established Manifest Digital in an effort to find meaningful connections in an increasingly disconnected space. He is a well-respected leader in the industry with a 15+ year track record of delivering work based on user-centered design principles. Early in his career, he knew customers would demand tools that integrate into their world, rather than migrating onto channels, platforms, or widgets. As a result, he is an expert in assembling cross-functional teams to solve complex problems with an experience design tool set. He has carefully assembled talent to ensure the delivery of cross-platform and cross-channel products. The result is a seamless customer engagement.

Dave Hoover — @redsquirrel

Dave Hoover is a software developer, manager, and trouble-maker at Groupon in Chicago. Dave was a principal at Obtiva (acquired by Groupon in August, 2011) where he founded and led an apprenticeship program that is still going strong at Groupon today. Dave authored "Apprenticeship Patterns: Guidance for the aspiring software craftsman" and instigated the "Software Craftsmanship North America" conference. He has spoken at tech conferences in places like Scotland, Sweden, and South Africa, but if you ask him, he prefers Chicago's own @geekfest. Dave competes in endurance sports in order to keep up with his wife and three kids. In a past life, Dave was a child and family therapist.