Boys & Girls Clubs of America Expands Effort to Close Digital Divide

by LP Green, II

Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Comcast NBC Universal announced today the Comcast Foundation has invested more than $3 million in BGCA’s My.Future technology initiative. The grants are part of the company’s five-year partnership with BGCA, which was announced last year and is valued at tens of millions of dollars. The grants will further develop the My.Future technology platform and curriculum and give more Clubs access to the technology, tools and teachers to activate the program. My.Future provides hands-on technology training to equip Club kids with the skills needed to compete in a 21stcentury economy.

BGCA is using $1.5 million to further develop and build-out the My.Future program. The remaining funding is being awarded to approximately 90 local Boys & Girls Clubs across the country to provide Club staff with training and to purchase state-of-the-art equipment that reflects today’s mobile environment, including computers, tablets, smartboards, digital cameras, music studio tools and video-editing technology needed for the Clubs to fully implement and teach the My.Future curriculum.

“With the ever-changing technological world we live in, it is our responsibility to make sure that kids and teens are equipped with the tools and resources needed to compete for 21st century jobs, leadership opportunities and to thrive in today’s digital world,” said Jim Clark, President and CEO of BGCA. “Thanks to our partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal to create and continually evolve our My.Future program, we’ve seen valuable impact for Club members, improving digital literacy from igniting passions in robotics to coding and game design. We are excited to see the program grow and influence even more Club youth.”

“Comcast NBCUniversal is proud to partner with BGCA to expand My.Future to help conquer the digital divide,” said David L. Cohen, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Comcast Corporation. “My.Future is an exceptional initiative to help educate today’s youth about our digital world, and I commend BGCA for their dedication to teaching Club members the skills they need to pursue bright futures.”

My.Future is a cutting-edge technology education initiative that provides hands-on experiences and enables Club members to select from more than 40 activities to help them understand how to safely and productively engage online and identify and develop digital interests – from Internet basics for technology beginners, to robotics, coding, game design and online journalism for advanced learners.

Since 2011, Comcast and the Comcast Foundation have dedicated more than $240 million in cash and in-kind support to fund digital readiness initiatives nationwide, reaching nearly 3.2 million people through non-profit, digital literacy partners, including Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Comcast has supported local Boys & Girls Clubs for more than a decade, providing more than $100 million in cash and in-kind contributions.

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