MIAMI – May 24, 2016 – EcoTech Visions today announced the Miami launch of Digital Citizen, a technology boot camp that aims to provide real-world technology programs and entrepreneurship training to local underserved communities. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is investing $200,000 to fund eight cohorts of the program over the next two years.
Related Link
“Miami boot camp will help entrepreneurs from underserved communities cross the digital divide” by Carlos Vasquez on Knight Blog, 5/24/2016
EcoTech aims to close the technology education gap among low-income neighborhoods across Miami. The nonprofit also hopes to diversify the community of active entrepreneurs in Miami and introduce people to technology career paths. Applications to the boot camp will be accepted starting now at etvfoundation.org/digitalcitizen.
“This program is desperately needed not only to fill the tech staffing gap but also to combat the economic hardships and growing income gap in inner-city Miami,” said Dr. Pandwe Gibson, executive director of EcoTech Visions. “We all succeed when the best and most diverse solutions are brought to the table.”
The program will be based in Liberty City, and hopes to attract residents from the neighborhood, as well as people living in Overtown, Little Haiti, North Miami, and other areas in Miami-Dade County with low median incomes.
It offers seven weeks of intensive training, providing participants with the technical expertise, coding skills and the professional support they need to be competitive in the workforce, while introducing them to careers in tech. In addition, participants will have access to networking opportunities, and interact with successful entrepreneurs, community leaders and others across Miami’s tech community.
EcoTech will also partner with groups such as Dress for Success, to offer workshops on best practices in professional settings. It will connect participants with talent initiatives including tech apprenticeship program LaunchCode and The Idea Center at Miami Dade College.
“Miami’s diverse population presents an important opportunity to solve community challenges and innovate. To properly leverage this diversity however, we need to open more pathways for all of our city’s residents to participate in idea building,” said Matt Haggman, Knight Foundation program director for Miami. “By making Liberty City its home base, EcoTech Visions aims to fill this gap, expanding opportunities for underrepresented communities in our city.”
Support for EcoTech Visions is part of Knight Foundation’s efforts to invest in Miami’s emerging innovators and entrepreneurs as a tool to build community, while fostering talent and expanding economic opportunity. Over the past three years, Knight has made more than 100 investments in entrepreneurship in South Florida.
For more information on the Digital Citizen technology boot camp, visit etvfoundation.org/digitalcitizen
About EcoTech Visions
EcoTech Visions, founded by Dr. Pandwe Gibson, is a results-oriented business incubator and accelerator that is wholeheartedly committed to building tremendous value for their clients, employees, and shareholders. It is EcoTech’s mission to create an engaged atmosphere where green-based start-ups can successfully plan, launch, market, and grow their businesses, while simultaneously extending into the marketplace and creating positive net profits in a friendly, moral, and ethical manner. For more information on EcoTech Visions Foundation, Inc. visit www.etvfoundation.org.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.
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CONTACTS:
Justin Knight, EcoTech Visions Foundation Inc. 786-766-0976, [email protected]
Anusha Alikhan, Director of Communications, Knight Foundation, 305-908-2646,[email protected]