As we reflect on the challenges and transformations of the past year, I'm pleased to present our 2023 Impact Report, highlighting the resilience, innovation, and progress we've achieved together with you. Leading Laboratoria as a co-founder for nearly a decade and now through my first year as CEO has been an incredible honor, and I'm deeply grateful for the genuine support of our entire community.
A decade ago, the emergence of bootcamps globally and in Latin America responded to the growing demand for practical, accelerated education models as an alternative to traditional university pathways. Laboratoria played a pioneering role in this movement, particularly for women who have historically been marginalized, successfully training close to 4,000 women, and placing close to 80% of them into fulfilling tech careers. Through all these years, while addressing long standing inequities in the industry, we witnessed the profound personal growth our graduates experienced and the enormous positive impact the program had on their lives.
As we prepared to expand our impact, 2023 presented new and important challenges. The sudden market shift, marked by layoffs, a macroeconomic crisis, and the surge of artificial intelligence, put pressure on junior roles and made it increasingly difficult to find quality starting jobs in technology. Bootcamps across the region suffered and a significant drop in our expected job placement rate, made 2023 one of our most difficult years yet.
With a great sense of both urgency and responsibility, we dedicated the entire year to maximizing employment opportunities for our graduates in an extremely challenging scenario. And while our efforts did not yield the immediate results we so deeply strive for, there were significant achievements which are laying the groundwork for future success and continued impact. Among these achievements, we expanded our reach by opening our bootcamp to women in five new countries. Our Código M initiative engaged 3,000 women taking their first step in tech, offering inspiration and exposure to different career paths in the industry. To adapt to the evolving job market, we updated our bootcamp curriculum by integrating diverse learning pathways and prioritizing new highly-demanded skills and officially launched our Data Analysis track. We also launched Laboratoria+, a platform catering to women already working in the digital economy, providing opportunities for self-discovery, leadership growth, and mentorship.
Both the challenges and successes of 2023 serve as an important reminder that our vision as an organization goes beyond that of a bootcamp. Our vision to create life-changing opportunities for women to start and grow careers in the digital economy in Latin America, is as relevant as ever. In 2024, we are committed to leaning further into our value of continuous learning and innovation and seizing new opportunities that have come to light. How can we provide alternative learning pathways that can contribute to closing the access gap for women in a fast-moving digital economy? How can we actively foster women's career advancement and achieve greater representation in leadership? How can we work more closely with our hiring partners to respond to their changing talent needs while strengthening DEI initiatives and best practices?
Challenging times are always opportunities. In 2024, we're diving deep into these questions, exploring them with care and purpose. Our organization's resilience and adaptability have strengthened our connections with our supportive community of donors and partners. You have not only stood by us but have also doubled down on your support for which we are immensely grateful. We're excited to continue working closely with you all and to together once again be pioneers in shaping the course of the next 10 years. I am confident that everything that brought us here will take us even further.
Thank you for accompanying us on this journey.
