re:Bloom’s mission is to make web services accessible, affordable, and sustainable, especially for women & minority-owned, small businesses within our community. See what our past volunteers have done.
Over the next 10 weeks, you will work together to solve a business problem using technology. While coding experience is appreciated and makes it easy to create custom code injections, it's not necessary! We work to meet our client's business needs which means we work a lot with platform builders and no-code solutions (Wix, Squarespace, etc.).
We appreciate volunteers who are willing to learn and pick up new technologies. Our volunteers on average spend 10 hours a week on their projects. Each week, our volunteers attend a 1-hour meeting with their client, a 1-hour meeting with their team, and a 1-hour workshop on relevant web development topics. The rest of the time will be spent on individual project tasks.
We appreciate your interest in re:Bloom. However, Our programs are no longer being offered as of August 31, 2024. If you have any questions or need support, please contact us at info@re-bloom.org.
re:bloom recognizes the benefit for businesses to creating additional and creative ways to reach their customers. It is more important than ever for small businesses to pivot their business model to include online sales and we'll be there to help make technology should be low-cost and accessible. At re:Bloom, you will be paired onto a project team of two, reporting to a project manager and a business client.
re:Bloom also recruits project managers to oversee a team to create a website from the ground-up for a real small business owner. The role is all remote and only requires 10 hours a week for 14 weeks. Training is provided.
Our project managers...
- Interact with real clients on a weekly basis
- Lead a team of 2 volunteers
- Develop marketable skills such as web development and design
- Present your work to professionals at companies such as Facebook and McKinsey
- Have a genuine impact with women and minority small business owners
Ideal candidates would be college seniors, graduate students, and young professionals with interest or experience in consulting, project management, or UI/UX design. If you have any questions, please reach out to Irene Hong at irene@re-bloom.org. Thanks for your time and consideration!
This is an unpaid volunteer position.
Read the full role description
We appreciate your interest in re:Bloom. However, Our programs are no longer being offered as of August 31, 2024. If you have any questions or need support, please contact us at info@re-bloom.org.
FAQs
re:Bloom's mission is to close the digital gap between small businesses and large corporations by making web services accessible, affordable, and sustainable, especially for traditionally underserved business communities such as women and minority-owned small businesses. To learn more about our history, see About Us.
re:Bloom takes on a diverse range of projects. You may find yourself yourself using design and development skills to build anything from an eCommerce website, to an informative website, to an interactive prototype for an application. All of our projects follow a similar 10 week structure where you will consult with a small business organization to help them reach a business goal.
re:Bloom does its best to take on businesses that would benefit from our help. While we are open to working with anyone, we currently work primarily with women and minority owned businesses in the Greater Pittsburgh Area.
Volunteering with re:Bloom
There are many reasons why volunteers choose to volunteer with us. Some of these reasons may include:
- Giving back to your local, small business community
- Weekly workshops on related topics
- Consulting, design, and development experience using industry standard no-code tools
- Network with industry professionals
- Receive a recording of Demo Day presentation
Each project has a project manager, two developers, and a client staffed to it. The project manager is there to facilitate the consulting relationship between clients and re:Bloom teams. New volunteers serve as developers to consult, design, and implement a technical solution for our clients.
Volunteers should expect to spend about 10 hours a week on re:Bloom projects. You will spend this time on 1 hour client meetings, 1 hour team meetings, 1 hours weekly workshops, and the rest on building out solution for your clients.
Application Process
We appreciate your interest in re:Bloom. However, Our programs are no longer being offered as of August 31, 2024. If you have any questions or need support, please contact us at info@re-bloom.org.
First, you will apply online. After reviewing your application, we will decide if you are a good fit and invite you to a 30 minute interview. For us this is generally a discussion about your goals with our organization and the experience you’ve listed on your application. Shortly after, we will make a decision and notify you about your application status.
No past experience is needed, but, if you have a design portfolio or you’ve worked on development projects in the past, we’d love to see it!
re:Bloom is looking for inspired volunteers seeking an opportunity to help small, women and minority owned businesses achieve their goals through tech and tech literacy. We seek those who take initiative and display sound communication and professionalism.
Read through our website, review your answers to the application questions, and be prepared to discuss what you’d like to accomplish with re:Bloom. Other than that, make sure you have a stable internet connection, take a deep breath, and relax. We’re excited to meet you!
A cohort at re:Bloom lasts 10 weeks. Sometimes work with a client can go slightly beyond this 10 week period, but more often than not it will be limited to 10 weeks.
Project Management
PMs or Project Managers lead a team through the re:Bloom process to build a project with a client from conception to completion. Our project managers are experienced volunteers who will ensure a positive experience and outcome of our projects.
re:Bloom project managers are carefully selected to lead our projects. You may apply to be a PM using the application. If you are selected to be a PM, you will go through an onboarding and training process then work with our clients.