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The Greater Washington Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs and UNCF (United Negro College Fund) have announced separate plans to provide opportunities for underserved youth to learn and develop skills in STEM fields.
Starting next year, the Boys and Girls Clubs will join the Anyone Can Code project, which will allow teens to create apps for Apple computers, smartphones and other devices using the tech giant’s Swift programming language.
Jimmy Works, director of STEM programs for the Greater Washington Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs, said the youth organization already offers science, technology, engineering and math courses to “about 1,000 kids a year,” and aims to double that number.
He added that Apple’s involvement will offer young people a new and popular programming language, and the company is donating equipment to facilitate education.
“Most of our clubs have devices [that are] old models,” said Mr. Works.“Most of our equipment is a bit outdated.”
Tablet PC donation “truly transformative. It ensures we have the latest technology and not only new iPads but also [Swift] curriculum,” he said. “I think our children will benefit a lot. It will allow them to dream and compete with their peers.”
Boys and Girls Clubs has 16 locations in the DC metropolitan area and serves 21,000 youth in grades K-12.
Meanwhile, UNCF said it has partnered with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a lobby group that represents more than 350 leading technology firms, to help expand its tech-related efforts across a network of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Announcing last year that it will add a “portfolio of racial justice and equality” to its work, Silicon Valley Leadership Group said it will “use its resources and assets and relationships with member companies to facilitate HBCU student internships and identify career opportunities for students.”
“We’re working with Google and some other tech companies in the Valley,” said Chad Womack, UNCF’s senior director of national STEM programs and initiatives. “But the partnership with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group is particularly exciting because it gives us a way to talk to the entire Silicon Valley tech community, not just one company at a time.”
“Everyone has something valuable to contribute. And part of that is bringing one’s whole self to work, career, industry,” said Mr. Womack. “After all, diversity, equality [and] “Inclusiveness means we have a diverse range of people, communities and opportunities that provide unique opportunities for them to have equality in what is developed, produced and marketed, and we are as inclusive as possible.”
UNCF’s goal, he said, is to enable “our students to commute to college in a STEM major” and to create an environment where, as employees or entrepreneurs, “our students can be on both sides of what we call the deal table.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the name of the United Negro College Fund, which is still the organization’s official name.
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