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South LA students are bright, driven, and resilient. But what are they up against?
80%
Live in poverty
40%
report feeling unsafe
44%
experience teen pregnancy
40%
don't graduate high school
64%
lack access to tech at home
We believe it's not about ability, it's about opportunity.
We are determined to disrupt these statistics by creating the SoLa Tech & Entrepreneurship Center. This center will offer South LA youth a community-oriented, safe learning space to build their career readiness and workforce skills.
SoLa Tech Education
Testimonials
We opened our doors to the Summer Tech Camp in June 2021 and are offered six weeks of summer tech camp activities. Over 180 campers from 50 Los Angeles county schools participated in different experiences utilizing state-of-the-art iMac and gaming computers, Oculus virtual reality headsets, old-school arcade games, and more.
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During the height of the pandemic, we offered 1,200 hours of high-quality, free, virtual technology classes to more than 125 South LA students throughout the summer and fall of 2020.
South LA students accomplished the following from our virtual programming:
95%
of participants now skilled in basics of coding, animation, & graphic design
97%
of participants now want to become coders
72%
expressed interest in pursuing a career in a field they discovered at our tech programs
75
students were introduced to these subjects for the first time
Something I have learned about myself while taking this course is having the courage to try something new and learn from my mistakes. Also, even if it is hard at first I never have to doubt my answers.
Beverly, 16
Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality Coding
Irma
Mother of Felix, 11
SoLa Tech Camper
Felix absolutely loved it. He looked forward to it everyday. He wanted me to drop him off as soon as possible and pick him up the latest possible. After this week, he said he's thinking about becoming someone who creates music.
Jennifer, 17
Coding & Design
I plan to use this curriculum later on in college to major in a STEM course that includes coding; additionally, I plan to also use the analytical skills and problem solving abilities in the real world.
Tech Center Space Concept
Gaming Center Concept
Summer Tech Camp Speakers
The launch of our Summer Tech Camp series was met with an overwhelming response from the community and a standing waitlist of 200+ students. The following community leaders, mission-aligned corporations, local organizations, and press came to speak to our South LA students during their time at Tech Camp.
Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation
First Republic Bank
Snap Inc.
Behr Paint
LA Rams
Los Angeles Mayor
Eric Garcetti
Spectrum News 1
SoLa Tech & Entrepreneurship Center
powered by Riot Games
We can only accomplish this with the generous support of philanthropic organizations and corporate partners who want to support the growth of young people in South LA.
Together we can uplift the South LA community and change the trajectory of their lives.