The Philadelphia Children’s Foundation has received a $30,000 Grant from the Philadelphia Department of Commerce. The grant was part of the StartupPHL initiative, which uses public money to match investment in Philadelphia’s innovation ecosystem.
PCF received the grant to fund two efforts: 1) our “Tech-Masters” (a.k.a. “IT Support Teams”) program which creates and nurtures small IT Support teams inside schools to install and maintain our donated equipment, and 2) computer literacy teaching (to larger cohorts of students in conjunction with teachers) covering subjects such as 3D printing, website building, hardware basics/refurbishing, networking, and coding.
The award ceremony was held at one of PCF’s first partner schools, Emlen Elementary in East Mt. Airy, Philadelphia. Principal Thomas, her staff and students made the event special, welcoming attendees into their school and classrooms. In attendance were Philadelphia Mayor Kenney, PA State Rep (D200) Chris Rabb, Channel 6 news, Phila. Department of Commerce, East Mt. Airy Neighbors, West Mt. Airy Neighbors, Emlen staff and students, and of course, the awardees.
For this 6th round of funding, five organizations received support:
- Philadelphia Children’s Foundation: PCF will use the funds to merge our existing equipment refurbishing program with computer literacy training, setting up in-school tech support teams made up of 4th and 5th grade students.
- Onyx Valley: Onyx Valley seeks to connect youth of color with skills needed to join technology companies. The funds will let Onyx Valley set up workshops on User Experience (UX).
- TechGirlz: With the grant, the nonprofit will fund a series of its TechShopz in a Box at nine branches of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
- Coded by Kids: The nonprofit will use the cash to set up a teen-run digital design and development shop. Kids will team up to design and build websites and apps for local nonprofits or small businesses.
- VietLead: The grassroots organization, which works with the Vietnamese community in Philly and South Jersey will use the funds to back a project to teach youth to “use technology to capture and analyze community stories and needs.”
