Level Up
StreetCode Academy, East Palo Alto, Calif.
Sponsoring Organization: StreetCode Academy- City/State: East Palo Alto, Calif.
- Grant Program: Emerging Leader
- Grant Amount: $15,000
Leader Profile:
Aaron Barron serves as the partnership director at StreetCode Academy, a nonprofit organization in East Palo Alto, Calif., that is bridging the digital divide and empowering communities of color to achieve their full potential by sharing the mindset, skills, and access they need to embrace tech and innovation. As partnership director, Barron develops the strategy and capacity for scaling StreetCode access programs. He is a 2018 graduate of Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., where he received his Bachelor of Science in Biomechanical Engineering. While at Stanford, Barron volunteered with mentorship and teaching programs, including StreetCode Academy. After graduation, he applied to be a teaching intern and has been on the StreetCode staff full-time since 2019.
Project Summary:
StreetCode’s Level Up program is a technology distribution program, providing laptops, mobile hotspots, routers, and free tech education to local students and families who most urgently need access to online learning platforms and opportunities. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed how a lack of access to technology widens the digital divide by limiting family-wide opportunities for advancement. A single home computer cannot serve the needs of a family that is actively engaged with and using technology. In the next growth phase of the Level Up program, an on-demand learning system will be offered to tech recipients to help bolster their digital literacy skills.
