Bootcamp MyTechBestFriend faces allegations of hostility, bullying and harassment from its students
Some students from the MyTechBestFriend academy has always been a little suspicious of the program and its founder, Mary Awodele.
Since its inception in 2020, a whisper network has whispered that many of the materials taught by the academy were plagiarized from various other online programs, such as those from Google or Salesforce. Founded by Awodele in 2020, MyTechBestFriend (MTBF) received widespread acclaim, especially within the Black Tech community. For a minimum of $3,000, it offers to teach people skills, such as technical writing, and help them find high-paying tech jobs.
Many of the people who signed up for MTBF were new to technology. Some took out loans, quit their jobs, or used their savings to participate in the program. Many were unaware that ServiceNow, Google, and Salesforce were very similar, if not identical — courses for free or at a much lower cost. Those who did know were afraid to speak out. Until now, that is.
The last straw
Last Monday afternoon, Mary Awodele sat in a Zoom meeting with her camera out. The students at her academy, MyTechBestFriend, were upset. Earlier that day, Awodele had suddenly removed a student from their Cohort 2 Discord chat who had asked a question, those familiar with the situation said. Others aware of the goings-on at MTBF say the Discord incident wasn’t the first time Awodele has reportedly chastised a student for speaking up.
“We all got really scared and nervous because we could ask a question, and depending on what kind of question it is and the way she takes it, that could spell the end of your acceptance,” said Mandy, a former student , recalling ukbusinessupdates.com what everyday life at MTBF was like. (ukbusinessupdates.com granted anonymity to former students so they could speak freely about their time at MTBF. We use a pseudonym here.)
But after two years of what students claimed was bad leadership and a culture of silence, they were determined to make this incident the last time Awodele took revenge on a boot camp participant. Those in the Cohort 2 Discord group remembered that after the impeachment, a fellow student quickly came to the defense of the expelled student. Soon after, another student shared a video Awodele made the day before out of frustration in the Discord chat.
It was an Instagram video, seen by ukbusinessupdates.com, of Awodele saying she would no longer serve as a reference for students who have not told her if they got a job. Awodele, who is black, said people being offered a job without telling her are worse than being called the N word – and she used a hard “R”. The students were stunned. Chaos ensued in the Cohort 2 Discord.
