LaunchCode, the technology training nonprofit based in St. Louis, has named an experienced STEM nonprofit leader as its new CEO.
The nonprofit said Monday that its board of directors has appointed Tasmyn Scarl, formerly executive director of the Challenger Learning Center-St. Louis, as LaunchCode's chief executive after a national search by Chicago-based Morten Group.
Scarl succeeds LaunchCode's former leader, Executive Director Jeff Mazur, who left the organization in September and became the director of government and industry partnerships for the Taylor Geospatial Institute in January this year. According to a spokeswoman, changing the title for LaunchCode's leader to CEO is more in line with other LaunchCode executive titles as well as those of other business-focused nonprofits.
Sarah Mayer, a former board member, has led LaunchCode as interim executive director since Mazur’s exit. Mazur received total compensation of $153,984 in 2020, according to the organization's most recent IRS filing.
Scarl became executive director of the Ferguson-based Challenger Learning Center-St. Louis in December 2002, nearly a year prior to its official opening, and set about building it from the ground up. The center, one of a network of more than 40 such centers, provides simulated space missions, science education and team building programs for schools, corporations and community groups. During her tenure, Challenger Learning Center-St. Louis was named the top-performing center in multiple areas for nine consecutive years, serving more than 10,000 students annually, officials said.
Prior to moving to St. Louis to take the Challenger post, Scarl was senior manager of exhibit projects for The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California, after having served as traveling exhibits manager at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Scarl has served on the board of the national Challenger Center for Space Science Education, the Jewish Community Relations Council, the St. Louis Regional STEM Learning Ecosystem Steering Committee and New City School.
“The passion and commitment of the LaunchCode team, along with the provision of resources and support, affirmed for me that LaunchCode is the perfect next step in my career,” Scarl said in a press release. “I’m truly impressed with how much impact the organization has made in its relatively short existence and I’m excited to lead the team into LaunchCode’s second decade of growth.”
Founded in 2013, LaunchCode provides free technology training to aspiring computer programmers and places them in apprenticeships and jobs. It provides programming in St. Louis, Kansas City and Philadelphia.
“Tasmyn is taking the reins of LaunchCode at a pivotal moment in the organization’s lifespan and at a time when LaunchCode is uniquely positioned to solve so many of the current challenges of the American workforce,” LaunchCode co-founder Jim McKelvey said in the press release. “I’m confident that Tasmyn is the right leader to help lead the LaunchCode team into the future as they continue to truly transform the economic and workforce landscape of St. Louis and beyond.”
LaunchCode said Monday that in the coming weeks, Saint Louis University's Urban Planning and Development program will publish a report showing that LaunchCode graduates and programs have “triggered almost $168.2 million in metro-wide economic activity per average year” since its founding.
LaunchCode reported total revenue of $16.9 million and total expenses of $13.5 million in 2021, according to its website. The organization completed a $5 million expansion and renovation of its headquarters, at 4811 Delmar Blvd., last fall.
