“Youth-led Tech | Summer 2015” is a technology mentoring program in five Chicago neighborhoods: Austin, Englewood, Humboldt Park, North Lawndale, and Roseland. Smart Chicago Collaborative is working to get this program funded through Get IN Chicago, whose mission is to identify, fund and rigorously evaluate evidence-based programs that lead to a sustainable reduction in violence for individuals and communities most affected by violence and poverty.

The conceptual model for this program is “youth-led tech”, which means teaching technology in the context of the needs and priorities of young people. Youth will learn how to use free and inexpensive Web tools to make websites and use social media to build skills, generate revenue, and get jobs in the growing technology industry. This intensive, six-week program meets youth where they’re at, in their neighborhoods, at their skill level, and takes them through a course of learning on simple and powerful Web-based tools. The program material— the websites and tools they will make— will revolve around their expressed needs and interests.

For more details and/or opportunities, visit www.smartchicagocollaborative.org. Questions/ comments? Call Daniel X. O’Neil, (773) 960-6045, info@smartchicagocollaborative.org.