TAMAR HUGGINS GRANT superpower INCREASING EDUCATIONAL AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES

TAMAR HUGGINS GRANT noticed that few people of colour were applying to her Driven Startup Program, the nonprofit social enterprise she’d founded in 2012 that aims to help under-represented entrepreneurs take their business to market through advancing training, mentorship and access to capital. It was then she realized she could create a greater impact by reaching out to tech providers of the future. “I wanted to teach youth that they are more than just consumers,” says Tamar. “They can create the technology they consume every day.” So, last year, she launched Tech Spark (techspark.ca), a program that’s free for participants, thanks to funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s Youth Opportunities Fund and support from Access Alliance, a multicultural community-services organization. Tech Spark teaches coding and other digital literacy skills such as web development, UX design, digital drawing and mobile gaming to youth aged 15 to 29; it’s designed to help develop a new generation of innovators and creators. Through Tech Spark, Tamar focuses her efforts on inner-city communities like Toronto’s Weston–mount Dennis— identified as one of the poorest and most at-risk neighbourhoods in the city— where there are barriers, both economic and social, to learning. In addition to training (the 12-week program runs four to six times a year), Tech Spark provides transit tokens and hot meals, and youth mentors are available to help students with personal issues that may affect their studies. Even more crucial, each Tech Spark session ends with studentinternship opportunities at established technology companies like Pixel Dreams, a digital design studio in Toronto. This year, Tamar plans to launch Tech Spark Digital, her own digital agency, where program interns will be hired to do design and development work for local businesses.

“We try our best to provide the students with what they need to be successful,” says Tamar, who hopes to expand Tech Spark to other inner-city neighbourhoods in Toronto. “They leave with skills that employers are looking for.” For Tamar, the ultimate reward is opening doors for not only Tech Spark students but also those students’ siblings and their future children. “Our reach goes beyond the individuals who are part of our program. It means so much to be part of that.”

June 30, 2016

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