Youth-Led Tech | Summer 2015

“Youth-led Tech | Summer 2015” was a technology mentoring program in five Chicago neighborhoods: Austin, Englewood, Humboldt Park, North Lawndale, and Roseland. 

Overview

The conceptual model for this program is “youth-led tech”, which means teaching technology in the context of the needs & priorities of young people. Youth learn how to use free and inexpensive Web tools to make websites and use social media to build skills, generate revenue, and get jobs in the growing technology industry. They also learn about all sorts of other jobs in tech— strategy, project management, design, and so on. We also provide introductory content about game design and app development. At the end of the six-week program, all of the youth know how to set up a website, are exposed to sophisticated tech skills, and know how to find real customers & employers for their skills.

This intensive, six-week program (from Monday, June 29, 2015 through Friday, August 8, 2015, from 10 am - 4 pm) meets youth where they’re at, in their neighborhoods, at their skill level, and takes them through a course of learning on simple & powerful Web-based tools. The program material— the websites and tools they made— revolved around their expressed needs and interests.  

Funding

This program was fully funded by a grant from Get IN Chicago, whose mission is to identify, fund and rigorously evaluate evidence-based programs that lead to a sustainable reduction in violence for individuals and communities most affected by violence and poverty.

By the numbers

• We received 351 applications for this program. 69 in Austin, 62 in Englewood, 91 in Humboldt Park, 57 in North Lawndale, and 73 in Roseland
• We declined 110 applications that did not meet that requirement that the youth be from one of the 18 target populations and communities of Get IN Chicago
• 220 applications were accepted. The remaining 21 applications were duplicates or contained errors
• 141 youth completed the program: 26 in Austin, 25 in Englewood, 32 in Humboldt Park, 26 in North Lawndale, and 32 in Roseland. All of these youth met the attendance requirement (80% attendance after the first week, since we were still heavily recruiting at that time), created a website, and completed four hours of financial literacy training
• Of the 80 youth that were accepted but did not complete the program, the majority never started. We did informal phone surveys after the first week, and the main reason for not attending was acceptance at another summer program, employment, and/or some other scheduling conflict
• A small number of youth at each location (less than 5) started the program and left sometime after the program began. Main reasons were schedule conflicts. Some youth were removed based on behavior issues 
• We gave out 129 free Ventra cards to the youth. Some of the youth declined the card because they walked or were driven to the program
• We ordered, delivered, and served thousands of meals for youth, instructions, as well as for our colleagues at each location and members of the community. More details as we crunch the numbers 

A closer look

Here's a closer look at the program in each of our locations:

Austin

The bulk of this program was delivered at Christ The King Jesuit College Preparatory School, 5088 W. Jackson Blvd Chicago IL 60644. The last week of the program held at Neighborhood Empowerments for a Better Communities (NEBC), 4628 W. Washington Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60644.

• Humboldt Park: Association House of Chicago 1116 N. Kedzie Ave. Chicago IL 60651
• Englewood: Teamwork Englewood, 815 W. 63rd St. #2, Chicago IL 60621
• North Lawndale: Chicago Youth Centers ABC Polk Bros. 3415 W. 13th Pl. Chicago IL 60623
• Roseland: Dr. Elzie Young Community Center, 9400 S. Perry Ave. Chicago IL 60620

Questions/ comments? Call Daniel X. O'Neil, (773) 960-6045, .

Portraits of many of the youth in our program.