Opening a Path from Marcy Lab to Spotify Engineering
In September 2020, Spotify began working with The Marcy Lab School, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit offering a one-year software engineering fellowship for students of color from low-income backgrounds. The goal of the partnership was straightforward: give Marcy Fellows direct exposure to Spotify engineers, help them prepare for technical interviews at Spotify and elsewhere, and demystify the company’s internship and fellowship application process.
To make that happen, Spotify turned to its own engineering staff.
Why Marcy Lab
The Marcy Lab School was founded in 2019 by educators Reuben Ogbonna and Maya Bhattacharjee-Marcantonio. Their premise: rising college costs in the United States have left too many young people — particularly students of color — with few viable career options and significant debt. Marcy’s fellowship was designed as an alternative path for students without a four-year degree to land well-paying technical roles, combining engineering coursework with networking opportunities at partner companies and personal development.
Engineers Volunteering Their Time
Spotify engineers already had a track record of sharing knowledge, whether through internal TechU courses, conference talks, or mentoring peers. So when the Marcy pilot launched, twenty engineers signed up to volunteer — many of whom identified as people of color or as coming from nontraditional computer science backgrounds themselves.
Volunteer responsibilities spanned the full arc of the fellowship experience: mentoring individual Fellows, sitting on career panels, giving feedback on capstone projects, running mock interviews, and sharing personal career stories with the cohort. By the end of the pilot, the volunteers were unanimous in their assessment: the partnership was worthwhile, and they wanted to continue.
Results and Momentum
The pilot produced tangible outcomes. Thirteen Marcy Lab Fellows applied to Spotify’s Tech Fellowship program, and two — Moises Dolores and Denysse Cunza Balvin — were accepted. Both went on to complete the fellowship and were hired as full-time Associate Engineers at Spotify.
When I found out Marcy had a partnership with Spotify, I was super excited at the chance to be part of this company. The partnership allowed me to get a closer look at this company’s values and learning culture, which made it easy to decide that this is where I wanted to start my career. From being a Spotify Tech Fellow to now a full-time software engineer, I have grown so much and I’m glad I made the choice to be a part of the band.
— Moises
The partnership between Spotify and Marcy Lab School tremendously impacted my decision to apply for the Spotify NYC Tech Fellowship Program. I was able to get firsthand accounts of what it was like being a part of the band, insights on the company’s culture, and see what kinds of values the company held. It made the decision of starting my career at Spotify that much easier because everything aligned with what kind of place I’d like to work at. I have learned so much since joining the band, I will forever recommend working at Spotify to everyone!
— Denysse
The success of the pilot has led Spotify to continue the partnership for the 2021–22 fellowship year. Engineers have already been matched as mentors, with more pairings planned for Marcy’s spring cohort. The longer-term aim is to build a consistent pipeline connecting early-career engineers from Marcy with roles at Spotify, while giving Spotify employees more chances to extend their impact beyond their day jobs.
Spotify’s Tech Fellowship applications remain open until May 6th, and more information about the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring efforts is available on its Life at Spotify page.
