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Learn More Two more Fellows bring the world to YTC, courtesy of the State Department Eslien Tsuses '23 Cee Fellow Namibia Learn more about other Fellows Learn more about the Computer Donation in Ghana Read now Impact in Ghana. YTC Connects - Ghana Earlier on the 19th of April 2023, Community Engagement Exchange Alumni, Prosper Tornyi, with his colleague, Edem at Proswrites Foundation were at Aveyime-Battor Senior High Technical School (ABAST) to make a donation of 5 Hp Laptop Computers to the school in aid of the ongoing Empowered To Lead G.I.R.L (Gender Inclusion and Resilient Leadership) program of his Community Engagement Project plan with a focus on equipping 40 - 50 female students (high school and tertiary) between the ages of 16 - 27 years with practical workshops on; leadership, digital skills, Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) career interests, and problem-solving skills. The main goal of the project is to close the women-gender gap and encourage peer-to-peer learning. The Headmaster, together with some teachers was in attendance at the donation ceremony. Currently, 20 female students from ABAST are participating virtually in the workshops and 20 more females in tertiary have been shortlisted to undergo the program. The leadership of the Aveyime Battor Senior High Technical School (ABAST) appreciated Youth Technology Corps - Chicago, and the Proswrites Foundation Team for this collaboration to impact lives through technology. The 5 extra laptops would go a long way to support other students of the project. ​ Learn more about the Community Engagement Exchange program -- https://www.irex.org/project/community-engagement-exchange Learn More OUR COLLECTION

​ Meet our inaugural Fellow; Prosper Tornyi '22 and join us in welcoming our two new CEE Fellows Eslien Tsuses and Hossam Basha when they make their public appearance at our May 7th Never-Ending Computer Give-Away Event at ETHS Prosper Tornyi '22 Cee Fellow Ghana THE YTC CEE Fellows These young leaders bring the world to our students at YTC and we are fortunate to harness their spirit during their time here and beyond. ​ Click their names to learn more about them! ​ Eslien Tsuses '23 Cee Fellow Namibia Hossam Basha '23 Cee Fellow Cairo The Community Engagement Exchange Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by IREX. CEE equips dedicated visionaries with the expertise, skills, and resources to develop multisector approaches and build healthy and engaged communities in over 100 countries. A transformational leadership development experience, the Community Engagement Exchange Program is designed to enable civil society leaders, ages 21-28, to harness the power of networks, relationships, and information for the public good. ​ Youth technology corps was selected to host fellows from the program starting in 2022

" If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." - An African Proverb ​ ​ COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY START-UP CORPS A Brief History - Laying the foundation CTSC began in June 1998, at Morton East High School in Cicero, Illinois. Known as the Cyber Service, the program started with six students and 100 donated computers. In the first year, students learned how to rebuild computers and keep records while providing more than 40 computers for Morton East High School and “Inside a computer” demonstrations for the school’s Computer Applications classes. In the summer of 1999, Cyber Service students launched the Free Community Computer Program, where the Cyber Service provided free computers and instruction to the Cicero Youth Commission and Cicero Boys & Girls Club. The student members of the Cyber Service expanded this free program to ten community sites, serving hundreds of community children by July 2001. In July 2000, Cyber Service students went global, bringing 15 computers and training to Durango, Mexico. In June 2001, the students did it again, expanding their services to 100 computers and 10 students, educating more than 250 Mexican children. This second trip enabled Cyber Service to distribute computers to more than twenty schools, with many schools receiving their first computers. The second CTSC, the Lake View Tech Service (LVTS), was launched in March 2001 at Lake View High School. By July 2001, the LVTS has supplied computers and instruction to three community after-school programs on Chicago’s North Side. The service taught more than 40 students and refurbished 50 computers. As the 2001 – 2002 school year begins, a third CTSC, the Curie High School Cyber Service, is just forming. The Morton East Cyber Service has assisted the Lake View Tech Service with computers and instruction. Both Morton East Cyber Service and Lake View Tech Service are helping the Curie High School Cyber Service get started. T HE FUNDRAISING JOURNEY UNFOLDS ​ In 2008, a new board member of the Youth Technology Corps - YTC, a non-profit organization in Chicago at the epicenter of the technology revolution and community impact named Andy Thomas - Executive at W.W Grainger , who was a very successful businessman, worked for a major corporation in the United States, retired and first joined the board and then became Chairman of the Board of YTC. He was the one who opened up and helped start the club in 2009 in Evanston. YTC originally started as Cyber Service in 1998 in Cicero, Illinois. What he did, essentially, was first he raised money and got one foundation to support this fundraiser. It is a family foundation that started out in the first two years, and the foundation gave YTC $10,000 each year and then $5,000 a year for another eight years. He also brought in some board members, and so we hired instructors, and basically, we had different spaces to operate. At one point we actually had a classroom in a different location. But basically, he was there to mentor, support and lead the kids who were part of the club at the time and accomplished different milestones besides donating computers. There were two, what we called Section eight or government-subsidized senior citizen buildings in Evanston. PIMMS Senior Center is one. YTC started in the common rooms, with groups of computers, and then Andy Thomas went in and taught the seniors how to use the internet and how to better use the computers. The Era of Summer Camps In 2009 the students from the group started participating in our computer projects in South Carolina. And that was during the summer. It was a one-week trip in which I brought kids from Evanston and also from the Chicago programs and more. We took them to South Carolina, where they spread out and worked with five schools in rural areas they delivered computers and worked with local students in refurbishing the computers, and then ended. I brought them together at the major university for a final presentation, and that project was funded by Office Max in the first year. YTC summer camp started officially in 2000 and ended in 2008 which involved missions to Mexico. Office Max Grant sponsorship towards YTC activities. Office Max sponsored us with a grant of $50,000 to go along with setting up that trip. It paid for more than the trip and took care of the administration of YTC. It was a short one-year relationship, but it was a $50,000 grant, which was a good chunk of money. Let me see they also began donating computers, and somewhere we have a list of all the different places they've donated over the years, but they also held a computer one-week camp at one of the elementary schools in which they taught the students how to refurbish a computer. In 2016, six of the students including Josh James, the son of the current board chair of Youth Technology Corps (YTC), Angela James Ph.D., and I met during this trip where we took six students and laptops that they had refurbished to New Orleans. ​ Impact Story till Date - YTC over the years in ETHS, Chicago, and beyond. We took six students to travel across the U.S. They took six laptops, and we connected with a church that had a whole room full of desktops that had been given to the students. And they didn't know what to do with it and the computers were just piled up in a room we have in Evanston. One day, six Evanston students processed all 45 computers. There were like 45 computers to start with, and they refurbished and set up 40 of them. The church lab had 30 computers, and then we took 10 of the desktops along with the laptops and brought them to a charter school, called adinkra charter school. The students spent the entire day with the kids at that school and the teachers showed them how to use their new computers because they basically brought them five laptops and 10 desktops and held some rudimentary classes on what's inside a computer for all the kids. Some illustrious graduates from ETHS impacted and added value to YTC. Alex Balmer and Richard Balmer. Alex Balmer was a committed member, a senior, and a student president of ETHS in 2016. He received a four-year fully paid scholarship at IIT and has since finished his master's degree at IIT and is involved in a startup in the tech industry. In May 2016, Northwestern students helped YTC run a computer refurbishing seminar for middle school students at mason park on how computers work and also explored community grant opportunities from Evanston Lighthouse rotary club. Quiver river state park became a safe space for summer camp, with 85 students learning about Arduino and how to use solve problems using these skills from 2011 to 2019. ​ ​ ​ ​ YTC NOW David N.Finkel - President of Youth Technology Corps

YTC Student Videos LEADERSHIP IN ACTION See our students applying their skills and sharing their knowledge. Interviews ​ ​ Instructional Videos ​

Our Clubs STEM Hands-on, skills-based learning After-school clubs where youth are introduced to basic computer skills, robotics, and coding, plus a choice for certification or other projects. Includes week-long technology camps and Titanium Tech International Competition. New Summer Program Apply Here SOCIAL JUSTICE BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE ​ ​ Directly from the Corps of YTC our clubs have donated thousands of computers, to hundreds of organizations and families, while creating dozens of computer labs around the globe. ​ ​ YTC Highlights Aún no hay ninguna entrada publicada en este idioma Una vez que se publiquen entradas, las verás aquí. Read More Upcoming Events Time is TBD Information: How to Start Your YTC Club / Location is TBD RSVP Time is TBD Location is TBD Meet club leaders and mentors to learn how to start you club and begin making a difference in your community. Webinars starting Fall 2019. Dates/Times TBD. Join Us Empower Your Community

OUR PARTNERS CORPORATE, COMMUNITY & GOVERNMENT PARTNERS Partnering with YTC connects your business to today’s up and coming IT talent. Joining the YTC team increases your business value and helps to shape the future of the IT workforce. Sponsor innovative learning projects in your community NOW! ​ Supporters have included: Stable Road Foundation Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors Foundation JP Morgan Chase and Co. Best Buy American Honda OfficeMax City of Chicago U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Dev. Ald. George Cardenas (Chicago – 12th Ward) Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky ETHS Booster Club Sargent Lunday Chicago Community Trust Springboard Foundation The Finnegan Family Foundation Evanston Community Foundation (ECF) John Kimmel Memorial Fund of the ECF Friends of YTC (individual donors) Com Ed Kluth Family Foundation After School Matters IREX Lighthouse Rotary US Department of State Sponsor YTC

CREATING IMPACT WITH OUR DONORS,ONE-STEP AT A TIME THE CHILDREN'S CENTER AT GRANT WORKS, CICERO - IL. The Children's Center of Cicero-Berwyn provides educational day care and child development programs at 8 locations in the community. YTC Students from Cyber Service at Morton donated computer labs and offered pre-school computer literacy in the form of free weekly classes to their pre-school children at three locations from 1999-2003. CICERO YOUTH COMMISSION The Cicero Youth Commission provides after school space with games and activities for elementary school youth. It was one of the first two locations where YTC students set up and maintained a 7-computer lab. YTC students taught two days a week from 2000-2003. BERWYN YOUTH COMMISSION YTC Students from Cyber Service at Morton donated a computer lab and offered computer literacy in the form of free weekly to their students until 2003. ARTHUR E MCQUILKEN CICERO BOYS CLUB The Cicero Boys Club was one of the first two locations that YTC Students from Cyber Service at Morton donated and maintained a computer lab and offered computer literacy in the form of free weekly classes to their students until 2003. OUR DONORS MAKE US WHO WE ARE Cicero Boys & Girls Club YTC Students from Cyber Service at Morton donated a computer lab and offered computer literacy in the form of free weekly to their students until 2003. Childrens Center - Hawthorne Site The Children's Center of Cicero-Berwyn provides educational day care and child development programs at 8 locations in the community. YTC Students from Cyber Service at Morton donated a computer labs and offered computer literacy in the form of free weekly classes to their students at three locations from 1999-2003. Childrens Center - Riverside Site The Children's Center of Cicero-Berwyn provides educational day care and child development programs at 8 locations in the community. YTC Students from Cyber Service at Morton donated a computer lab and offered computer literacy in the form of free weekly classes to their students at three locations from 1999-2003. DONORS WHO CHANGED THE LIVES OF OUR COMMUNITY Oakton Elementary School, Evanston YTC students from Evanston Township High School donated 20 computers to Oakton Elementary students and their families between 2012 and 2015. Curt's Cafe donation YTC students from Evanston Township High School donated 10 computers to Curt's Café in 2016 and 2017. Gads Hill Summer YTC Program is an offshoot of the Bridgeport YTC Program. Started in the summer of 2018, students were introduced to a STEAM curriculum, and were guests at YTC Summer Camp. In February 2018 YTC Bridgeport worked with the students of Gads Hill to donate 15 computers to families in the community surrounding this community center. Bridgeport Gads Hill Summer YTC Program is an offshoot of the Bridgeport YTC Program. Started in the summer of 2018, students were introduced to a STEAM curriculum, and were guests at YTC Summer Camp. In February 2018 YTC Bridgeport worked with the students of Gads Hill to donate 15 computers to families in the community surrounding this community center. RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR DONORS KEEPS US GOING The Haitian Congress to fortify Haiti The Haitian Congress to Fortify Haiti is a Not-for-Profit 501c3 organization is composed of Haitians working together to put forth programs to help fortify the Haitian community in the both locally and in Haiti. YTC has donated computers to help them in service of that mission. Family Focus ETHS YTC students donated computers and held computer refurbishing camp in the 5th Ward for Evanston youth in 2014 City of Evanston Youth and Young Adult Department ETHS YTC students have donated computers for Evanston youth and families 2010 - 2018 Our success depends on you First United Methodist Church of Evanston ETHS YTC students donated a computer lab in 2013 Mitchell American Indian Museum ETHS YTC students donated and installed a computer network and corrected various issues they had with their internet network. Jacob Blake Manor ETHS YTC students have donated and maintained five computers for use by Jacob Blake Manor seniors since 2014. They have also held computer and internet classes for the seniors We are grateful for this collaboration. Ebenezer Primm Towers ETHS YTC students have donated and maintained five computers for use by Ebenezer Primm Towers seniors since 2014. They have also held computer and internet classes for the seniors. Kizn Creole Restaurant ETHS students donated a free computer lab to this Haitian restaurant for use by the Haitian community Evanston Community Foundation ETHS students have donated computers for Evanston Community Foundation recipients multiple times since 2012. In addition, the Foundation sends all their computers that they retire to the club. Thanks to all our individual donors for being part of our journey. Our Partners

Welcome to the Future Learn to Teach FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE YTC summer arduino PROGRAM HERE

The Idea We are launching a new way to introduce robotics across underserved communities all over the country and beyond. It’s a concept that worked well in our pandemic-inspired model and now we are testing its scalability. It’s a system where every student can become a teacher with the opportunity to be rewarded for helping the community grow. In honing this approach, not only are we introducing new students to STEM Education, but we are also building leaders and problem solvers who are prepared to take what they have learned and build a career path in a technology-driven economy. Nationally Reviewed The concept has been well reviewed. Our student participants were given surveys by the PEAR Institute, nationally recognized for evaluating out of school STEM programs. Compared to national averages, we scored: 10% higher STEM Engagement 20% higher STEM Enjoyment 18% higher Career Interest, 25% higher in STEM Activities 13% higher in Critical Thinking, 12% higher in Perseverance 9% higher in Relationships with Adults. FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE YTC summer arduino PROGRAM HERE This Summer Get an introduction to Robotics in this FIVE week, FIFTEEN hours interactive online course

Introducing The Childcare Network of Evanston As a leader in the Evanston early childhood community and an Evanston Cradle to Career partner, CNE has played a major role in the development and implementation of a variety of programs all focused on ensuring that all children in our community have a Strong Start to Kindergarten. CNE WEBSITE Home Visiting Program at CNE ​ YTC has been asked to help participants in CNE’s Home Visiting Program which is a Head Start/Early Head Start program that serves families with young children ages birth to five through weekly home visits and twice-monthly group socializations. Each eligible family is paired with one of CNE’s Parent Educators/Home Visitors, who use research-based curricula (Parents As Teachers and My Teaching Strategies) to support parents in becoming their child’s first teachers. How YTC is Helping Some families in the home visiting programs have struggled to have consistent access to the internet. So YTC is making sure that these identified clients receive our support with either Laptops or desktops so they can work from home, and have better access to the digital community. Help us, Help Others