Hack4Hope Returns to Offer St. Louis Teens a Summer of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

    ST. LOUIS, MO, May 13, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Hack4Hope returns for its second year of service to offer a weekend Hackathon and six-month academy to prepare underserved youth for careers in technology.

From Friday, June 10 through Sunday, June 12, 2016, students with little to no experience from low-opportunity communities will spend a weekend at CIC/Cortex, free of charge, to work with mentors from some of the tech industry's most experienced programmers, innovators and business strategists. A follow-up six-month academy trains the new young coders in programming languages, career strategies and essay writing skills. Hack4Hope is designed to help kids realize their value and connect them to resources in St. Louis.

Student Mariyah Smith-Pederson recalls her experience: "At Hack4Hope, I learned how to build a website, make a restaurant menu, and make a Mad Libs," said student Mariyah Smith-Pederson. "Making the website was the best part of it all."

Hack4Hope continues this nonprofit initiative under lead partners ITEN, an entrepreneur support organization, and the Education Exchange Corps, a local education and community empowerment organization. Additional partnerships include EPIPHANY Inc., Organize 411, Claim Academy, Parkway Schools, Junior Code Academy, EMC, St. Louis Housing Authority, SLATE, LaunchCode Mentor Center, Blue 1647 and Microsoft store at Saint Louis Galleria.

"Hack4Hope demonstrates the great things we can accomplish for kids when St. Louis works together," said Elad Gross, President and CEO of the Education Exchange Corps.

Hack4Hope is currently recruiting volunteer mentors and students for the 2016 Hackathon. They can sign up through the Hack4Hope website at Hack4Hope.org.

Hack4Hope Weekend Hackathon
When: Friday, June 10 at 4pm - Sunday, June 12 at 1pm (Public Awards Ceremony: 3pm)
Where: CIC, 4240 Duncan Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110
Cost: FREE

Hack4Hope Academy (Six-month course load): Hack4hope.com/academy

The St. Louis Business Journal reports that roughly 10,000 new technology-related jobs are expected in the St. Louis market over the next half decade. ITEN's annual tech startup report indicates that area startups will be responsible for 764 new hires by year's end, and 27% of those are expected to be technical positions.

By ensuring students from neighborhoods outside of the thriving tech scene are on the industry's radar, Hack4Hope Hackathon and follow-up Hack4Hope Academy provide a strong pipeline to opportunity and training for local teens.

Hack4Hope team members include Founder Nicole Franklin, Co-Founder/Lead Technologist Aimee Krummenacher, Lead Partner/ITEN Linh Nguyen, Lead Partner/Education Exchange Corps Elad Gross and Strategist Catherine Trau. More information may be found at Hack4Hope.org.

Hack4Hope Partners:

Our full list of participating partners may be viewed at this link: Hack4Hope.org/our-partners.

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