Wrapping Up RAD I: Reflections From the Other Side of the Classroom

Last week marked the end of a 10-week journey as a coach in the RAD I program, and it was genuinely rewarding to see how much growth happened in such a short amount of time.

For those unfamiliar, RAD Women (Rapid Application Development for Women) is a nonprofit program focused on helping women learn Salesforce development skills and break into technical careers through structured coursework, mentorship, and community support. You can learn more about their mission and programs at https://radwomen.org.

This was my second cohort (I taught last year too). The cohort was very beginner-level, which made the experience both fulfilling and, at times, challenging in an unexpected way. It’s been just over 25 years since I learned basic programming concepts, and sometimes I had to remind myself just how foreign things like syntax, special characters, or even variable assignment can feel when you’re brand new. What seems “obvious” after years of experience absolutely isn’t at the start.

That’s where having a strong co-coach made all the difference.

My first co-coach, Michelle Hansen, was incredible throughout the program. She had recently gone through the course herself, had taught it multiple times, and came armed with thoughtful analogies and explanations that helped bridge the gap between “experienced developer brain” and “first-time learner brain.” Watching her translate complex ideas into approachable mental models was a reminder of how powerful good teaching really is.

My second co-coach, Erika McEvilly, was a newer RAD coach like me. I found myself trying to draw upon Michelle's analogies where I could, though I'm sure I didn't do them justice.

What We Covered in RAD I

Over the course of 10 weeks, the groups worked through a wide range of foundational Salesforce development topics, including:

• Programming basics: variables, syntax, and special characters
• Collections and debugging
• Conditionals and loops
• SOQL
• Triggers, classes, and methods
• Bulkification
• Unit testing

Each week included homework that blended Trailhead modules, reading, and hands-on exercises designed to reinforce what we covered in class. The progression was intentional, slow enough to build confidence, but comprehensive enough to give learners real momentum.

And that momentum was visible.

Looking Ahead to RAD II

Most of the women in the cohort are excited to apply for RAD II, which is always a great sign. RAD II goes deeper into triggers and bulkification, introduces more complex SOQL and testing scenarios, and begins to touch on Object-Oriented Programming concepts. It also starts to expose learners to engineering patterns like Model-View-Controller, component-based frameworks, and trigger frameworks.

Personally, I think I’ll be even more excited to teach RAD II. It’s a more advanced course, and there aren’t a lot of people who are both able and willing to teach it. If I can help there, I will.

Why This Matters

Anything I can do to help move the needle on the gender gap in technology is something I’m happy to invest my time in. Programs like RAD don’t just teach technical skills, they build confidence, community, and a sense of belonging in an industry that hasn’t always felt welcoming.

Seeing that growth firsthand over the past 10 weeks has been one of the most rewarding teaching experiences I’ve had.

Onward to RAD II.