The Hope of Technology


I love Hope Tech’s name. Our main goal truly is to breath hope and inspiration into the lives of local youth by introducing them to the world of technology and teaching them technical skills. It is by exposing students to something seemingly beyond their capability, and then helping them succeed, that we teach them that they are able to do more than they thought was possible. This is something that our youth in the inner cities desperately need.

My new, while admittedly limited, exposure to the tech field is showing me that there is another reason Hope Tech’s name is so fitting. The number of open jobs in the technical field is astounding - and it only seems to keep growing.

When I think of tech jobs, I tend to only think of IT and computer programming. But tech has infiltrated nearly every sphere of life and business. A large amount of modern marketing is done digitally on the internet and social media platforms. Web design, business analysis, the automotive industry, to name a few, are all areas in which people with technical training are needed. There is especially a growing need for technical jobs in the healthcare industry (Swartz, USA Today).
This is not just in California, but nationwide. While the Silicon Valley is now famously known as the tech giant, cities such as Phoenix, Huntsville, Alabama, and Kansas City are experiencing a rapid growth in technical jobs (Ivanova, CBS News).

The number of technical jobs, however, heavily outweighs the number of people who have training in the technical field.



The fact that there are such a large number of open jobs is good news for today’s youth. Unfortunately though, the tech field has done a poor job of recruiting women and minorities, which makes Hope Tech’s vision such an important one (Swartz, USA Today). The number of jobs available in the technical field is something that can be hopeful, and relevant, to our students here in Oak Park - but only if they are exposed to the idea that success in the technical field can actually be a reality for them. In the past, this has not been the case. Hope Tech seeks to destroy the stigma that tech jobs are restricted for those of a specific socioeconomic status, race, gender, or educational background. By bringing valued technical skills to youth who have had very little access to such training, we dream of matching the need in the job field with the needs of urban youth today, a win-win for both parties.

Hope Tech is a great name, not just because our mission is to inspire hope in local youth, but because the tech industry itself has given this next generation something to hope towards: a future with a good job. The jobs are there; it is our responsibility to provide equal access to exposer and training for all youth, regardless of their zip code, bank account, and race.





Sources:

Kessler, Sarah. “You Probably Should Have Majored in Computer Science.” Quartz, Quartz, 10 Mar. 2017, qz.com/929275/you-probably-should-have-majored-in-computer-science/.

Swartz, Jon. “Tech Jobs Are Thriving Nationwide -- up to 7.3M.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 3 Apr. 2017, www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/04/03/tech-jobs-thriving-nationwide----up-73m/99789502/

Ivanova, Irina. “America's Fastest-Growing Tech Cities Aren't on the Coasts.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 20 June 2017, www.cbsnews.com/media/americas-top-10-tech-cities-arent-on-the-coasts/2/.

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