Jeff Mazur, who has served as the executive director of technology training nonprofit LaunchCode since 2017, is stepping down from his role.
Mazur, who LaunchCode said has been its longest-serving leader since its founding, will leave his role Sept. 16. The nonprofit has started a national search to find Mazur’s successor.
"The LaunchCode board and I appreciate Jeff’s leadership and years of work on building a bigger, better tech workforce,” said Jim McKelvey, LaunchCode’s founder and chairman. “Filling Jeff's shoes will be tough, but I'm certain we will find someone great.”
Founded in 2013, LaunchCode provides free technology training and places aspiring computer programmers in apprenticeships and jobs. It provides programming in St. Louis, Kansas City and Philadelphia.
Mazur became LaunchCode’s executive director in 2017, after joining the nonprofit as director of public partnership. He also served as vice president of partnerships before becoming executive director. Mazur said he made the decision to leave LaunchCode, adding that he believes he’s shepherded the organization to a point where it can benefit from bringing on a new executive director to lead its next stage of growth.
“Over (my) five years, LaunchCode has really climbed a huge mountain. That period has been an unqualified success in terms of impact and growth and culture for the organization. I just see now out on the horizon a new mountain and a new set of opportunities and challenges for the organization and I really feel like that’s somebody else’s climb to lead,” Mazur said. "I’ve been really lucky to lead the organization during a time that was a really good fit for my skillset and I think the best thing, and the fair thing, is to make way for a person with the skill set for the next set of challenges the organization will face.”
During Mazur’s tenure, LaunchCode said the organization has helped 2,200 individuals begin careers in technology, drastically grown its revenue and expanded to new markets. In 2021, LaunchCode said it had revenue of more than $15 million, up from $3.8 million in 2015. Additionally, the nonprofit is nearing the completion of a $5 million project to expand and renovate its headquarters at 4811 Delmar Blvd.
“I’m really proud of the way that LaunchCode has grown from what was a startup nonprofit based on a really compelling idea into what I think of now as a true community infrastructure that’s really woven into the DNA of the cities where we work. I think LaunchCode over these past five years has genuinely changed the workforce conversation in those places," Mazur said.
Mazur said he does not have a position lined up for when he leaves LaunchCode, with his focus recently being on ensuring a smooth transition for LaunchCode’s next executive director. Mazur was executive director of AFSCME Council 72 in Columbia, Missouri, before he joined LaunchCode in 2015,
“I think soon I’ll be in a position where I’ll be able to start thinking a little bit more deliberately about what I want to do next,” Mazur said. “But what I do know is that my career has always been devoted to empowering people and boosting the community that I live in and it’s really hard for me to imagine moving away from that at this point."
