<\/p>\n
Farah Cadet presents her app Ritually at an Apple Store showcase.<\/p>\n
Miami Dade College<\/p>\n
SPONSORED CONTENT is content paid for by a partner. The McClatchy Commerce Content team, which is independent from our newsroom, oversees this content.<\/p>\n
Edited By Chase Clements, McClatchy Media Commerce<\/p>\n
Miami Dade College alumna Farah Cadet knows firsthand what it means to feel out of place.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest challenge has been feeling like I belong,\u201d said Cadet, a technology entrepreneur. \u201cI don\u2019t see many people that look like me or have a non-technical background. It\u2019s easy to feel out of my league.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born in Canada to a Haitian family, Cadet grew up in Miami, built a career in interior design for hotels and cruise ships, and then watched it disappear during the pandemic. What came next surprised even her.<\/p>\n
She enrolled in a coding bootcamp at MDC, landed a job as a software developer, and eventually found her way back to MDC \u2014 this time to learn iOS development through the College\u2019s Apple Swift program<\/a>. The program is a collaborative effort between the School of Engineering and Technology and the School of Continuing Education and Professional Development.<\/p>\n Within months, she had built Ritually, now live on the Apple App Store, a wellness app that uses AI to recommend personalized mindfulness practices based on a user\u2019s mood and energy. When she presented it at an Apple end-of-program showcase at a local Apple Store, her two young boys were in the audience watching their mother speak to a room full of strangers about something she had built from scratch.<\/p>\n \u201cI love sharing my school journey with my boys,\u201d she said, \u201cso they can see that learning never stops \u2014 and that we can do challenging things.\u201d<\/p>\n Access into Action<\/p>\n Cadet\u2019s story is not unique at MDC. In many ways, it is a mirror of Miami itself \u2014 a city that has spent the last several years reinventing what it can become.<\/p>\n Miami has transformed into a serious global tech hub, drawing startups, venture capital and major technology companies at a pace few cities can match. But growth at the top creates pressure at the base. Companies need engineers, developers and builders \u2014 and they need them now.<\/p>\n Students work on iOS app development using Macs in Miami Dade College\u2019s Apple Swift program<\/a> classroom.<\/p>\n \u201cThe need for tech talent is in high demand,\u201d said Manny P\u00e9rez, dean of MDC\u2019s School of Engineering and Technology. \u201cAs Miami\u2019s tech ecosystem continues to grow, so does the demand for skilled talent. It is essential that we continue to offer programs that align with industry needs.\u201d<\/p>\n MDC has leaned into that responsibility by turning access into action. With classes across the Kendall, North, West and Wolfson campuses and a student body that reflects the city\u2019s full diversity \u2014 multilingual, multi-generational, working-class and middle-class alike \u2014 the college is positioned to do something elite universities cannot: reach the people who would otherwise be left out of the boom.<\/p>\n The Apple Swift program is a clear example of that mission in practice, offering hands-on iOS app development training, certification preparation and direct exposure to industry opportunities.<\/p>\n Enrique Infanzon, dean of MDC\u2019s School of Continuing Education and Professional Development, said Apple saw the potential of a partnership from the beginning.<\/p>\n \u201cWe saw strong interest from both college students and working professionals \u2014 people who wanted to build their own future, not wait for someone else to build it for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Miami is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the United States \u2014 and the program was built to reflect that. Courses run in English, Spanish and Creole across four MDC campuses, deliberately lowering the barriers that have historically kept working adults, career changers and first-generation learners out of tech. Infanzon saw the city\u2019s diversity not as a challenge to manage, but as the program\u2019s greatest strength. \u201cMy focus has always been the non-traditional student,\u201d he said. \u201cMany come with business ideas and prefer to learn how to develop their own applications rather than give their ideas to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n The demand revealed something Miami already knew but rarely said out loud. \u201cWe would receive 100 calls for 30 spots,\u201d Infanzon recalled. \u201cThere was always a waiting list.\u201d Our community is ready to be part of the tech workforce.<\/p>\n Where Learning Meets the Workforce An instructor assists a student with Swift programming in Miami Dade College\u2019s hands-on learning environment.<\/p>\n The results have been tangible. Hundreds of students have moved from the classroom to real industry exposure \u2014 presenting their apps to industry experts, building portfolios, and stepping into internships and full-time roles inside Miami\u2019s tech sector. Many arrived without a prior degree. All of them left with something concrete.<\/p>\n \u201cThe program has already touched the lives of hundreds of students,\u201d he said, \u201cdemonstrating our commitment to workforce development.\u201d<\/p>\n Students do not just study app development \u2014 they ship real products, pitch to industry professionals and build the kind of confidence that opens doors. Cadet is proof of that. She is now rebuilding Ritually in React Native so it works across both iOS and Android, pursuing an Associate in Science in Applied AI, and has already passed her first Amazon Web Services certification exam, which opens doors in the tech industry. What began as a single course has become a full professional trajectory.<\/p>\n That is precisely what MDC and Apple set out to build \u2014 not just a program, but a pathway. One that meets students where they are, equips them with skills the market demands and connects them to a city hungry for the talent they represent.<\/p>\n As Infanzon put it: \u201cMiami\u2019s technological growth cannot be sustained if we do not develop local talent. The ecosystem grows because talent grows, and talent grows because the ecosystem grows.\u201d<\/p>\n Miami\u2019s tech future is not arriving from somewhere else. It is being built here, in MDC\u2019s classrooms by an institution that understood early on that the city\u2019s greatest competitive advantage was always the people already living in it.<\/p>\n An instructor assists a student with Swift programming in Miami Dade College\u2019s hands-on learning environment. Miami Dade College <\/p>\n
Students work on iOS app development using Macs in Miami Dade College\u2019s Apple Swift program classroom. Miami Dade College <\/p>\n