Podcasts about mission bit

San Francisco, supposedly the tech capital of the world, doesn’t teach its students computer science - at least not enough. Nivi Achanta interviews Cynthia Chin, the program manager of Mission Bit (https://www.soapboxproject.org/getschooled/missionbit.com) , an SF-based non-profit that provides a free computer science education to public school students. They talk about why tech companies come to SF and don’t hire its own residents, how companies can give back, and one major tangible thing underserved students often lack. Check out https://www.soapboxproject.org for more information.

Stevon Cook talks about the influence of his grandmother when his parents were unable to care for him as a child, connecting bridges out of poverty through coding education, and his sense of call to build things to empower others.From stevoncook.com:Stevon Cook is a third generation San Franciscan and graduate of public schools. He attended Williams College in Massachusetts where he majored in American Studies and got involved in various entrepreneurial and social impact ventures. After graduating, he returned to San Francisco where he's worked in education, politics and business.Currently, Stevon serves as President of the San Francisco Board of Education. He was elected to the Board of Education in November 2016 with over 150,000 votes. In addition, he is the Chief Executive Officer of Mission Bit, an education nonprofit focus on ending generational poverty through coding education.

There is no doubt that Stevon Cook has a passion for education. As the CEO of Mission Bit, Stevon and his team are driven to eliminate the tech divide for underrepresented youth in the Bay Area by teaching high school students essential coding skills. Stevon shares his story growing up in San Francisco and how past roadblocks led him to win the San Francisco Board of Education position with over 150,00 votes. You can follow Stevon at https://www.stevoncook.com and Mission Bit at: https://www.missionbit.com

Stevon grew up in a rough neighborhood of San Francisco. Kids in his neighborhood dreamed of becoming famous, looking up to sports players and seeing stardom as their only legitimate career option. The other option for making quick money...selling drugs and stealing cars. Given, this, it’s no surprise that most of the kids from Stevon’s neighborhood ended up becoming pimps, drug dealers, and prostitutes. Except that's not what Stevon did...  

Being a 3rd generation San Franciscan who grew up in public housing, Stevon has always been aware of the challenges of his community including the major lack of access to Computer Science education among kids in the Bay Area. His drive to take part in bridging this tech divide was what got him to join Mission Bit, where he now serves as the CEO. Stevon also ran and won the election to be the Commissioner on the Board of Education for the City of San Francisco. By leveraging relationships and tapping into the power of asking, Stevon is committed to providing computer science education for kids in the Bay Area so they can truly unlock their full potential.