- [Announcer] iQ: smartparent is made possibly in part by the McCune Foundation and The Grable Foundation.

- There is a gap between those who have easy access to 21st century technology and those who don't.

It's called the digital divide and it's limiting opportunities for people of color and those with limited income and education.

Today, we're talking about how to bridge that digital divide and how to build healthy economies and healthy communities for all.

That's coming up on today's iQ: smartparent and it starts right now.

(playful techno music) Welcome to iQ: smartparent.

I'm your host, Darieth Chisolm.

We live in a technology-driven world and that's shaping a new kind of workforce.

But due to the digital divide, not everyone has access to opportunities in high-growth tech fields.

Our first guest is determined to change that.

She is Christina Lewis, the founder and CEO of All Star Code, a nonprofit computer science education organization and she's joined by Jerome and Marcus.

Thanks so much for being here on the show today.

- [Christina] Thank you so much for having us.

- [Marcus] Thank you.

- Christina, your work with All Star Code is fascinating and you really decided to do this so that you could foster the talent among black and Latino males.

Why and what were you saying and what drove you?

- Well, who's being left behind in the race to leave everyone behind?

Six years ago, I was a journalist and so research was a big part of what I was doing and I saw, as many others did, the opportunities in technology and the gateway that coding provided.

But then, I looked around and I saw that there were some really great programs happening and there are many programs out there for girls but there wasn't one focused on our black and Latino young men and I knew and it's important to leave, to have everyone on the playing field.

So this came out of research about what was missing and this was a solution that was missing.

- So name for us some of the specifics and then you also focus a lot on mindset.

- That's absolutely right with what we do.

Well, we're an out-of-school education provider that in the summer, recruit students for a six-week summer intensive program that teaches them the basics of computer science as well as web development but in a culturally-appropriate way.

It's about understanding how to innovate.

- Yeah, and having that mindset is what's going to make the difference-- - Exactly.

- With the things that you learn.

- Exactly.

- So let's bring in Jerome and Marcus and welcome them and ask really, how has this changed your life in particular ways of being involved in your mindset as well?

- Well yeah, absolutely.

My mom averagely end up finding the advertisement on the internet for All Star Code.

All Star Code teaches you the basic fundamentals on how to program and then if you wanna go into that specific field, you can broaden your information a little bit to the big domain of computer science and then it really gets interesting, it's when you transfer that domain into something else.

- Absolutely, Marcus, is that the way that you feel about it?

- Oh, absolutely.

It's changed my career aspirations total 180.

- How so?

- Before I went into the program, well, my parents always told me, medicine, medicine, medicine.

That's all I'm gonna do.

I've never really considered entrepreneurship, computer science, any of those related areas and so I saw the email that I got from All Star Code and it just sparked a little intellectual curiosity in my part.

So I signed up, I joined this summer, and I can say with 100% confidence that it's the best experience I had in the summer.

- Yeah, and I understand that it's so much so you all are enjoying it that now you have teaching fellows and sharing this with other young people.

- Yes, yes.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

That has to feel amazing for you, Christina.

So that you understand that how this is impacting two young men's lives but that they're now sharing this with other young men.

- Absolutely!

It is amazing leadership.

So many programs think that it's about what I can teach others and I think one thing that All Star Code understands is that really, we need to empower students to teach themselves and that's who can teach others.

Now, they are peers.

So incorporated is hiring students after the summer to teach others along with our lead instructors.

There's a three-person teaching team and then to empower them to pursue whether they want to pursue.

- Well, you mentioned that in the past, as you were focusing on journalism and then you saw this digital divide, you were in the focus in on that, but why coding?

You could've looked at anything else but coding was-- - Absolutely.

There were at that time one million technical jobs coming online but not enough people to fill them.

So that was an opportunity for all groups to go and help this country innovate.

Broadly speaking, our workforce needs new skills and as I did my research, coding is the ticket in.

- Marcus and Jerome, for you all, what's the most exciting thing that you're learning about this?

- Really just the expansiveness of computer science really.

It has implications in so many facets of life, whether that be in the business sector all the way down to Dunkin' Donuts, coffee shop, I don't know.

It's just so interesting, all of the different implications it has.

- Yeah, and I totally agree.

The things that you can do with computer science is just fabulous, magnificent!

We have elders like owning, using phones and it's just an awesome feeling.

And especially, you can get to contribute into humanity in a better way and you connect people through software and everything.

It's just amazing.

And you also profit from it.

That's even a better thing so-- (ladies laughing) Yeah.

- What happens if we don't bridge this divide?

And you're working to do it but we know that there are a disproportionate number of people, populations-- - Absolutely.

- That are on the other side of this divide.

- Absolutely.

It scares me a little bit, to be honest.

The unemployment rate is great right now, particularly in the African-American community, as well as the Latino community.

The pace of change is so fast.

Even coding today is, programmers are being replaced by AI in some cases so the pace of change is so rapid that individuals may think that they have a useful skill but if you're trying to coast on that as, say, a generation ago did, you may end up not being able to thrive in the 21st century.

- Yeah, not to mention that a lack of income and equality is just bad across the board for society.

- Exactly, it's bad for society.

It's a lost opportunity and that's what really motivated me to start this is that how can no one be thinking specifically about our young men of color?

I said, well, we've gotta do that because there's talent there!

- So I understand that you have been hugely inspired by your father, Reginald Lewis.

- Absolutely.

Well, my father, Reginald Lewis was the most successful businessman who happened to be black, of his era in the '80s and '90s.

A financier who pioneered into the Ol' Boys Club on Wall Street.

He died 25 years ago yet he in path breaking, really integrating in the private sector was hugely inspiring to me.

And so tech today, I see as the Wall Street of the '80s and '90s and that was the pathway that I followed of how we could inspire other students and I think also that leadership and mentorship.

He has a book that we give to our students to read and to show that things are possible.

- Absolutely, and in looking at what possibilities lie for the both of you, what are you excited about doing in the future?

- So yeah, one thing that I'm really excited about doing in the future is actually trying to make a sustainable environment, living environment because there's so many problems that are going on in the community and in the world that I think really, that technology can also maybe able to fix that.

We have the things out with the landfills.

Yeah, landfills.

I was looking at a little bit of the cancer academic and I was doing a little bit of research and I found out that maybe if you attack cancer at a molecular level, you possibly can figure out how you can reverse their effects.

So that's the type of things that you really can do with technology and it's just amazing.

- Marcus?

- Tackling big problems, I love hearing that.

- Ever since I was a little kid, I've always wanted to be at the top of whatever I pursue.

So obviously, I'm gonna fail along the line but it's about coming back form that and kind of serving as either an inspiration or someone to emulate for others who are younger than me, who can kind of look up to me.

So in whatever I choose to pursue whether it be business, something into computer science, medicine, I want to be that person that people can go to and see, oh, this guy.

- Well, you have to feel incredibly excited about knowing that these two young men, being a part of All Star Code has made a difference.

- [Christina] Yes.

- [Darieth] Well thank you all so much.

- Thank you for having us.

- And for sure, we can talk about this for a very long time but the best of luck to you all and continued success with you.

Thanks for being here.

When we talk about STEAM education, the A stands for Art and Design and right now, we're going to focus on fashion design.

Minority groups are underrepresented in this industry too but you're about to meet a woman who's all about advancing art and design while also serving as a role model for the next generation of fashionistas.

(fun techno music) (peaceful music) Lesley Ware grew up thinking sewing was just a hobby.

She loved it but she certainly never thought of fashion design as a career.

- I think it was just the lack of diversity in my hometown and the resources and things that were around me, I just didn't know that this was even an option.

- [Darieth] Fast forward a few decades, Lesley lives in New York and she's a fashion designer and the author of three books on the topic.

She also teaches sewing and design at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Parsons Art and Design School in New York City, ranked in 2018 as the best design school in the country.

- So I've been at this for 10 years, eight years full time and there's so many obstacles and it's such a huge risk.

It's almost like building a bike as you're riding it.

- [Darieth] Lesley is a guest today at a maker event in Western Pennsylvania, encouraging young girls of color to take risks too.

- I think in particular for girls of color, being a maker is so important because we often just consume, I see girls buying fashion and buying products and buying magazines and they're not making anything themselves and it's like, don't just consume.

Be a maker.

You can do this too.

- [Darieth] The Stanford Graduate School of Education studied the importance of equity in making and creating with technology.

They determined if we don't close the digital divide, young people miss out on 21st century skills that matter in the job market.

- And then these are the shapes right here and then you put it on here and it just moves all the round and then the shapes!

- I think being able to see someone that looks like them be a maker is super important because if you can't see yourself, then you don't necessarily think that's a thing that you can do.

- [Darieth] That sentiment is backed up by statistics.

Girls of color need to see women of color involved in STEAM activities in order to believe they can get involved too.

- I feel like you should do two bags.

You have so many ideas, this is two or three.

- [Darieth] But the world of fashion design struggles with diversity.

One of the industry's most prominent trade organizations says only 3% of its members are black.

- I always joke around and I say, I wish I would've had my books when I was a girl because then I would've known, like oh, this is something that I can do.

In all my books, I work with my publishers and illustrators to make sure that every girl can flip through the book and see herself and feel empowered to be a part of the movement.

That's a part of design.

Sometimes, you have an idea and then you have to change it midway through.

- It's a proud feeling for me 'cause through all the homework and stuff, I made a actually thing that I'm proud of and happy of.

- I like designing clothes and stuff for dolls and American Girl Dolls.

It makes me feel happy because everybody knows that you made it and it's inspiring for everybody to see your creative work.

- [Darieth] The Stanford University panel determined three main points to expand equity and diversity in the maker movement.

First, educators should be intentional in creating maker opportunities and make sure underrepresented students feel a sense of belonging there.

Second, making must be a priority including in low-income schools.

And finally, maker projects need to be presented in classrooms and in real-life activities to show students the purpose of what they're creating.

- I think there's so many reasons why it's important to have diversity in the maker movement.

One of them, which is the one that I don't always talk about but it's also a dolorous thing and distribution of wealth.

Girls of color spend so much money buying things but they're not buying from their peers or usually from other people of color.

Even if you're just doing it for yourself, you're being a maker and that's amazing.

Every girl should be making her own things, telling her own story.

- [Darieth] Like dance, poetry, or painting, Lesley sees design as another form of storytelling.

Her latest collection was inspired by a road trip she took to Kentucky with her 84-year-old father.

- He just started telling me and showing me all of these places where he farmed the land and his dad farmed the land and his father who was a slave and so I started designing a whole fashion collection around telling the stories of my family's history through fashion, and if you don't try, if you don't make, those stories aren't getting out there.

- [Darieth] 15-year-old Malaynie used poetry and today's design project as a way to tell the story of getting comfortable in her own skin.

- This actually kinda speaks to me in a way because I'm really self-conscious.

I didn't like to wear my hair all curly and natural.

I like it flat ironed or braided up or something.

It's like knowing (mumbles), oh, she has good hair or bad hair.

So it's kinda looked down upon.

So I have the crown and then the African-American girl with the Afro puff because now, that's the style that I kinda like to wear with the hoops and everything, the big lips and everything.

So it was like, okay, this speaks to me, so it's just showing like okay, you're a queen in your own natural beauty and I can actually start to use my voice in a way where I feel like they can hear me even if they don't wanna hear me.

- [Darieth] 15-year-old Kameron's story includes a history of being bullied.

She turned to making as a way to regain confidence.

- It's amazing to me because I could accomplish things that I know I can do.

- [Darieth] Kameron creates stuffed figures out of rubber bands.

- I'm making a poodle.

I'm making a poodle.

So this is the head of the poodle.

It has a body, legs, and then once its done, it's stuffed with cotton balls but this little guy comes with a teeth and a tongue.

So this tongue is kinda hitting up there but it comes with everything made out of rubber bands.

- [Darieth] Today' event proves even adult makers need role models to identify with.

- Oh, identification is extremely, extremely, extremely powerful.

I think that I actually struggled with adapting a profession in the fashion industry because of that.

- [Darieth] Sharmaine is starting a fashion line and she said Lesley's presentation provided the message she really needed to hear.

- That it's possible, that I am worthy, that I am definitely on the right path.

- I think it also, on our psyches, being able to see people of color making and doing is something about that feels really good.

And so I just really encourage girls even if it gets though, even if you don't have all the resources that you need, they will come.

The universe knows that you're trying your hardest and people around you will see that too.

Women of color are our makers and we're out here and we're doing it and hopefully, this will just inspire more girls and garner more support for the movement to make it a better maker's playing field for us all.

(fun techno music) - We're closing out the program today with two more guests who are part of innovative programs to help bridge the digital divide.

Welcome to Susie Puskar from Partner4Work and Christian Hughes of the nonprofit, Drafting Dreams.

Thanks so much for being here.

- Thanks for having us.

- Thank you for having us.

- Susie, let's start with you.

So Partner4Work is a workforce development program in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and when we look at the importance of really bridging the digital divide and having a diverse pool of talent, how important is that?

- It's critically important both for business within the region but also for the people that live in the region for a few reasons.

One is that having a diverse pool of talent means that businesses can find the people that they need more quickly and then be able to focus on productivity and profit and the business of doing business.

And the other is that a diverse workforce really helps to ensure that when you're in a situation and you're tackling a problem as a company, you have diverse new points, you have diverse skillsets, and you have the people on staff that you need in order to be able to succeed.

- It better represents the need in society for diversity.

- Absolutely.

- Without a doubt and so when we look at some of the young people that you served, what are some of their biggest barriers?

- Many of them are low-income.

A lot of them have either had struggles in high school and need some help staying in high school or they've already dropped out of high school and we work to help reconnect them with education in the workforce.

- Yeah, so Christian, let's bring you into the conversation here and look at your nonprofit, Drafting Dreams.

Some of the work that you do is primarily around architecture and urban design.

What motivated you to start that?

- Several years ago, when I was an undergraduate at Hampton University, we participated in a diversity conversation with the American Institute of Architects and it became apparent to me that at the time, architecture was only 1% African-American, 2% Hispanic, 14% women culturally across the board and coming from a family of educators, the only thing that I knew how to do and to expose a population to, and it's a thing that they had not been exposed to was to teach it.

Therefore, Drafting Dreams would teach architecture to students kindergarten to 12th grade in order to inspire the next generation of architects but also to increase women in minority interest in participation in the profession.

So we look at buildings and we look at all of the structures in the spaces and we know somebody in construction but we are not aware that there's somebody with a pen and a paper and a idea and creativity and vision and art that actually takes time to think about all the different lines, where does everything go, what does everything look like, how is it drawn.

So the students are taught traditional drafting as well as architectural and physical model making and they learn 3D computer software.

- Where does the digital divide create the most challenge in gaps?

If you both could weigh in on that.

- For what we do, small things.

Being able to use the, or actually navigate around the keyboard in order to actually use the software.

Let's take your height for example.

My height, I'm six-foot even so we'd know when it's written out, it's six, apostrophe, dash, zero, quotation marks.

So being able to understand the difference between the comma key and the apostrophe key.

It's a big difference in whether or not your dimensions will be able to be input into the software.

So just small things like that.

- Susie?

- Yeah, on a micro level, we see the same thing with individuals.

A lot of jobs right now, you have to apply online and if you don't have the digital skills to be able to go online and apply for a job, you might not have access to those careers but on a macro level, the digital divide really means that some people, it can bring us together, technology, but technology can also bring us apart and so if it's exacerbating the gap between the haves and haves nots as a part of what careers are available to people, then we really see that breaking us apart.

So Partner4Work is one of 22 workforce development boards across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania but there are workforce development boards across the entire United States.

All of whom have Federal funding to help support young adults in their career pathways.

So find out who that workforce development board is within your region and reach out and find out what programs they have that are available for youth and young adults in your region.

That's a great first step.

- So you'd mentioned that youth learn to work by working.

What does that mean?

Tell us more about that.

- Sure!

There are critical skills that we all need in order to be able to be successful in work.

Yes, you can absolutely learn them in clubs and things like that but really, the place that the rubber hits the road is when you start to work.

And as summer jobs and summer employment for young adults decrease and as kids are pulled into different directions within their lives, they're doing sports, they're doing after-school programs, credit recovery, things like that, they're working less.

- Are you able to implement those types of work ethics, if you will, with your program, Christian?

- We're more or less focused on the skills behind architecture but also the holistic skills to be able to survive as an architect because again, there's a barrier if you cannot successfully communicate in an old, old-written fashion if you have designed this wonderful building.

- So just as a wrap up here, I'd love for you to weigh in on some takeaways that you want people to understand about the digital divide.

- So for us, one of the things that we think is really important is yes, digital literacy is incredibly important and understanding what you're being told by algorithms and information that you're finding on the internet.

But it's also incredibly important to have those human literacy skills.

So how do you communicate with others?

How do you make sure that you're taking the information that you know and infusing that into the work that you're doing?

And so yes, parents should absolutely focus on teaching skills to their children about digital skills and helping them find careers in these pathways but also how do they communicate one-on-one with people in a group setting?

- Yeah, and Christian, your final thoughts?

- I will agree with that but the word that comes to my mind is cohesion, being able to bridge the division divide, being able to create, and to allow us for this creation of cohesion, if you will, amongst all of the different interdisciplinary skills that a student needs to build to develop into a functioning adult.

Yes, you may be able to design the next technical this or technical that, but can you communicate?

Can you write?

Can you read?

- Yeah, very important topics there.

Well, I wanna thank both of you all for being here today.

- [Susie] Thank you so much for having us.

- Tech-savvy kids, tech-friendly schools, a diverse and welcoming workforce, they all add up to communities that can embrace opportunities and grow local economies.

We hope today's guests have inspired you to look for ways to bridge the digital divide where you live and we hope that you'll tune in again for iQ: smartparent.

(fun techno music) Want to learn more about iQ: smartparent?

Visit us online at iQsmartparent.org for more episodes and additional tools and resources.

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(bright music) iQ: smartparent is made possible in part by the McCune Foundation and The Grable Foundation.

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