Academy

  • What?
    6-month digital apprenticeship

  • Why?
    Nurture talent for social impact

  • Who?
    Anyone. No experience required

Why we're doing this

As founders of SIDE, we are aware that a few chance encounters early in our career had a huge impact.

Many people don’t get those chances, whatever their talents. In 2018, ACEVO reported "only 9% of the voluntary sector workforce is from a BAME background."

We are trying to do a tiny bit to redress this imbalance.

SIDE Academy aims to increase diversity in the charity technology sector. It's aimed at people who are under-represented in this sector.

The program

Learn the user-centred approach we use at SIDE: web design, web build, user research, copywriting, information architecture, product management and tea drinking.

This is knitted together by Webflow, a website creation tool that we believe radically changes the skill set required to be an effective web developer.

A typical week

  • 4 days on live projects: The best way to learn the full range of skills.
  • 1 day on training: Guided self-study with peer support.

Training modules

Discovery

  • Journey Mapping
  • User Interviews
  • Market Analysis
  • Synthesis

Design

  • Solution Sketching
  • UX & UI Design
  • Visual Design
  • Prototyping

Development

  • Website Build
  • Content Creation
  • Quality Assurance
  • Continuous Improvement

Our 2020 Cohort

🚀 Starting September 2nd 

SIDE Academy member Maryan

Maryan Ali

When working as an accountant, Maryan realised her ambition was to solve problems, not just identify them. 9 months of self-study later, we are delighted SIDE Academy is the next step on her journey.

SIDE Academy member Jaymie

Jaymie Gill

Due to personal circumstances Jaymie couldn't attend university, but he clearly had the talent. We are excited to have his skills on the team.

Our 2021 Cohort

🚀 March-August

Elizabeth Rose

After studying graphic design Elizabeth realised what she wanted to use these skills for, making positive impact. During Covid she pushed herself to learn new tools and skills and realised UX was something that she wanted to learn. SIDE is the next step in this mission and we are thrilled to be part of it.

An image of SIDE team member Shivy

Shivy Das

Coming from an industrial design background Shivy was always interested in how design can impact people's live for the better and was fascinated by how she could do this in the digital landscape. We are excited to have her skills on the team.

Track record

Experience of nurturing digital talent

A tweet from a former employee

Design Lead at Monzo

A tweet from a former employee

Senior Designer at Apple

Webflow
No-code website builder
Open Doodles
Illustrations