URBAN TXT: Teens Exploring Technology

We serve young men of color between the 7th and 11th grade who are from low income communities. Since 2009, we’ve used the concept of developing strong teams as a way for our young men to learn about collaboration, ideation, and long-lasting life skills. In small teams, our youths learn the process of taking an idea from concept to market.

URBAN TXT's Hustle N' Code Hackathon is an event aimed at inspiring youth who live in public housing developments (i.e. "The Projects") to address pressing issues in their communities using technology. URBAN TXT is the only organization in the nation that is hosting hackathons directly in public housing developments, and the need is high: our data has shown that less than 1% of youth in public housing developments in South Central have access to the internet, and less than 5% have access to a computer at home. Thanks to Hustle N' Code, hundreds of teens from South Central Los Angeles will be exposed to computer science for the first time.

During the Hustle N'Code Hackathon, boys and girls ages 11-18 form groups of four and are joined by professional developers to solve a community issues with code. The program doesnt stop there, though: all of our hackathon participants have the opportunity to continue coding and learning, for free, at our Hackerspace, year-round. Our Hustle N'Code hackathons typically reach over 200 families in South Central Los Angeles. At the end of the day, we hope to inspire underserved tweens and teens to dream about being techies and programmers.