Tapping the Power of Tech in South LA

Oscar Menjivar teaches tech to inspire teens.

Could South Los Angeles become a flourishing new center for tech talent, one where young men of color are recruited by Google, not gangs?

 

Oscar Menjivar thinks so. He started Urban Teens Exploring Technology (Urban TxT), and as a project of Community Partners, he's working to turn that vision into reality.

 

"We want to be a hub that fosters the best technology talent possible in South Los Angeles," said Menjivar. "There will be over a million jobs in the future that will not be filled because of a lack of talent. South LA can provide that talent."

 

Raised in South Los Angeles and Watts, Menjivar has firsthand experience with how technology can be a pathway to success in life. "It opened new opportunities for me in my career and allowed me to pursue what I love to do. Because of technology, I've never been without a job."

 

Through project-based learning, mentorship, and technology, Urban TxT inspires and engages dozens of African American and Latino teens to create rich mobile and web applications like this, to pursue STEM education at the best universities, and to build their own companies.

 

Students participate in an intensive 15-week program in which they work together in teams to learn the ins and outs of entrepreneurship, leadership, graphic design, programming, and much more. 

 

Each program culminates in a Demo Day where student teams pitch their companies and applications. This year's winning team developed South LA Runs, a web app that helps South LA residents find safe running routes in the area. Their successes fill Menjivar with pride: "This is an example of our students using what they've learned to give back to the community."

 

Urban TxT, an all-volunteer effort, is currently in the midst of a $100,000 crowdfunding campaign to bring on professional staff, develop an internship program with local technology companies, and expand to more schools.  

 

Los Angeles Walks promotes walking and pedestrian infrastructure in Los Angeles, educates Angelenos and local policymakers concerning the rights and needs of pedestrians of all abilities, and fosters the development of healthy, vibrant environments for all pedestrians.

The moderator's opening statement was clear: "Don't expect this to be yet another workshop about how nonprofit leaders can work more effectively with Millenials or GenXers, because that is not what we're going to talk about!" What they did talk about, as it turned out, was a lot more interesting.

 

At the recent Independent Sector annual conference in New York, the workshop focused more on the need for a Next Generation of leadership style, one that is both influenced and embraced across generations. The panel featured nonprofit leaders of differing ages who are creating cultures of inspiration and inclusion within their organizations that mirror the changes they want to see in the world around them. A few of the ideas they shared that most resonated with me:

• Nonprofit organizations should practice 'distributed' -- rather than "shared" -- leadership. When leadership is distributed, people at all levels in an organization can share their ideas about how to create solutions to community problems; it takes into account the input of people with varied perspectives and life experiences. Shared leadership, while democratic in intent, often winds up being hierarchical in practice. It can stifle innovative thinking when it reflects the shared thinking of people at the top of the organization but does not reflect input from people at other levels.  

• Next Generation leadership flourishes in organizations that are grounded in values above all else. These new leaders appreciate and rely on relationships and they want to professionally engage in efforts that respect both the heart and the head, that organize around both "data and love."

• To effect real policy change, it's important to build relationships with people who we consider in opposition to what we want to achieve in our communities and in our society. Storytelling is a powerful tool for creating those connections and a step toward needed cultural shifts.

But my favorite take-away phrase, repeated by two different presenters was this: "We think Love is making a big comeback in our work. And that's what keeps us connected to it."