Designing Better Public Programs Starts with Seeing the Whole Journey

How Code in the Schools Reduced Friction and Accelerated Access to Internships

In Baltimore, Code in the Schools faced a challenge shared by many public sector and nonprofit programs. Internship demand was growing, but friction across the system slowed everything down. Despite strong interest from students and support from employers, internship placements often took up to nine months. Students became disengaged. Employers misunderstood the value of interns. Internal teams struggled to align on where things were breaking down or how to fix them.

Code in the Schools needed a faster way to understand the problem, align stakeholders, and identify improvements that could be implemented in weeks, not quarters.

The Challenge: Delayed Placements and Misaligned Value

Internships were supposed to be a high‑impact experience for students entering the tech workforce. Instead, students often reported that in their past experiences as interns they were unpaid, underutilized, and left without real learning. At the same time, many employers viewed interns as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) gesture, not as meaningful contributors. The disconnect limited placements and weakened long‑term support for the program.

Internally, teams used whiteboards and sticky notes to map workflows and identify pain points. These sessions took hours and rarely ended in shared clarity.

“We were spending hours in a room with sticky notes and whiteboards, just trying to agree on what reality was.” — Dianne Conley, Co‑Executive Director, Code in the Schools

The Turning Point: Mapping the Student Experience

Code in the Schools adopted a clear three‑step approach: evoke empathy, map value streams, and connect the dots.

Workshops began by mapping the journey through the eyes of the student. This grounded the conversation in lived experience and allowed educators, civic partners, and employers to see where the process failed to deliver on its promise. Using nVeris, the team simulated the entire placement workflow from outreach to wrap‑up, exposing bottlenecks and delays that were not visible in traditional formats.

Because the emotional and operational data lived in the same visual model, the team could immediately connect what students were experiencing to what the system was producing.

The Solution: Shared Clarity Without the Overhead

Instead of building consensus manually, the team created a shared model in minutes. Everyone could see the system, understand where it was breaking down, and begin discussing solutions.

The framing shifted from process tasks to real outcomes. Debate turned into prioritization. The team identified improvements that could be implemented in less than 30 days. Student value became easier to communicate. Employer messaging changed. Internal friction gave way to forward motion.

“The quicker we get to a commitment, the more time we have to design a great experience.” — Dianne Conley

The Results: Faster Placement, Higher Satisfaction, and Stronger Buy-In

With nVeris, Code in the Schools replaced manual mapping sessions with a real-time model that drove immediate alignment and action. What used to take months to analyze and debate became clear in a single session.

• Student experience improved. In a simulated future-state journey, modeled during the session, projected student satisfaction jumped from 25 percent to 75 percent.
• Employer messaging changed. With a clear visual narrative, the team reframed interns as highly valuable contributors rather than low-level assistants to junior staff. This shift made it easier to reframe the value proposition of gaining top STEM student talent and scale the program.
• Internal teams aligned faster. By bringing emotional insight and operational detail into one, single view, stakeholders could agree on priorities and move forward without delay.

What had once been a slow, fragmented process became a focused effort with measurable momentum.

Why It Matters: A Blueprint for Public and Nonprofit Program Leaders

Code in the Schools is not unique. Government and nonprofit programs across sectors face similar barriers to diverse talent, efficiency, and impact. Misalignment, delayed action, and stakeholder disengagement are common.

This case offers a replicable framework for change. When empathy and operational clarity are brought together, it becomes possible to accelerate decision‑making, identify actionable improvements, and deliver stronger outcomes with fewer resources.

Whether your program is focused on workforce development, education, healthcare, or access initiatives, this approach can help you move from friction to flow.

See how nVeris can help your team uncover what is not working and move faster toward what will.