PHILADELPHIA, PA, Sept 6, 2022 — Through the 1Philadelphia initiative, Coded by Kids is partnering with BUILD.org for the second year of the Innovation League – a new program helping Philadelphia’s youth use technology to create innovative solutions and build businesses.
“We want our young people in Philadelphia to look at technology and innovation the same way they look at sports and entertainment,” said Sylvester Mobley, Coded by Kids founder and CEO. “We want them to see it as competitive, exciting, and most importantly, accessible. Finally, we want youth — especially youth from underrepresented communities — to see that they can ‘make it big’ through a career in tech.”
The League is open to 60 high school students across the city. Similar to a traditional sports season, students will attend weekly practices and events and compete with other teams. At practices, students will learn and apply principles of design thinking, project management, and creative problem-solving to proposed weekly projects and challenges. Working in teams, students will build prototypes, design solutions, and present ideas at monthly competitions.
“We are honored to partner with Coded By Kids by bringing BUILD’s engaging, project-based learning entrepreneurship program to the Innovation League,” said Thais Rezende, President at BUILD.org. “We want all students to have the opportunity to discover the entrepreneurial mindset and develop the key digital skills they need to create innovative businesses.”
Mentors from local tech companies will also be assigned to students– and at the end of the season, the teams with the highest rankings will compete in the Innovation Bowl, the league’s culminating championship event, for a cash grand prize of $5,000. Four cash prizes (totaling $11,000) will be awarded to winning teams during the final competition.
This year’s competition is made possible through sponsorship from several local institutions, including Comcast NBC Universal, TD Bank, Penn Mutual, Comic Relief, BOSS.Tech, SEI Investments, Seer Interactive, Listrak, and Independence Blue Cross.
Registration is free and now open for Philly high school students.
To register your student or learn more about the upcoming season’s schedule, https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/philadelphia-usa-2021-hand-holding-narcan-1962977485.
About 1Philadelphia
1Philadelphia is a Coded by Kids initiative that exists to make Philadelphia the capital of equitable tech and innovation —and illustrate the possibilities that the space can offer young people. By connecting funders, employers, schools, and community organizations,
1Philadelphia will create a tech ecosystem based in equity, resulting in an unstoppable network of opportunities to empower and support the success of underrepresented young people. The 1Philadelphia initiative is made possible through a partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal, Bank of America, and the Lenfest Foundation.
Learn more at 1phl.org and by following 1Philadelphia on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
About Coded by Kids
Coded by Kids is a Philadelphia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit fighting inequity by preparing underrepresented young people to succeed as tech and innovation leaders through project-based learning and mentorship. Our programs are designed to provide young people with beginner to advanced level software development, data science, and user experience design skills. To date, we have reached more than 1,100 students and completed over 1,500 instructional hours in Philadelphia, PA; Camden, NJ; and Delaware.
Learn more at codedbykids.com or by following us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
About BUILD.org
Founded in 1999, BUILD.org is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to use entrepreneurship to ignite the potential of youth from under-resourced communities to build Career success, Entrepreneurial Mindsets, and Opportunity. BUILD utilizes entrepreneurship education to elevate youth and propel them to academic and career success while empowering them to become the CEO of their own lives. Last year, BUILD trained nearly 500 educators in over 100 cities across America and served over 8,000+ youth through BUILD’s digital challenges and in-school entrepreneurship programming. For more information, visit www.BUILD.org.
