Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and Comcast NBCUniversal announced today that they have entered into a five-year national partnership valued at tens of millions of dollars in cash and in-kind support. This is the largest partnership between Comcast NBCUniversal and BGCA and includes the launch of My.Future, a new technology initiative designed to teach Club members about our digital world and ignite their passion for technology.
Comcast NBCUniversal is the Presenting Sponsor of My.Future, which is available to the nearly 4 million youth served by more than 4,100 Boys & Girls Clubs. My.Future allows Club members to select from more than 40 activities that reinforce digital literacy, including areas of exploring the web, communicating with others digitally and building media. Additional experiences allow members to explore advanced topics, such as robotics, coding and game design. My.Future is part of BGCA’s Great Futures Campaign, launched in July to call attention to the crisis facing kids and elevate the role of out-of-school time in reversing negative trends and empowering more youth toward success through enriching after-school and summer programs.
To celebrate this exciting announcement, Comcast NBCUniversal has renovated four Boys & Girls Clubs, located in Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, with state-of-the-art technology that reflects today’s mobile environment, including computers, tablets, smartboards, digital cameras, music studio tools and video-editing technology. In addition to providing this new technology to each of these Clubs, the Comcast Foundation also provided on-site renovations, including new paint, furniture and structural repairs.
“Today’s young people are digital natives, born into a world where technology is ever-present and constantly changing. In order to ensure great futures for all our youth, it is our job to keep up to date with technology and make sure it reaches the communities that need it most,” said Jim Clark, President and CEO of BGCA. “Through our partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal, My.Future will give Club members the technology skills needed to pursue promising careers and thrive in today’s digital world.”
“We are proud to partner with Boys & Girls Clubs of America to teach youth about the endless possibilities that technology offers, while helping to bridge the digital divide,” said David L. Cohen, Executive Vice President, Comcast Corporation. “We have supported local Boys & Girls Clubs for nearly 15 years because they truly make a difference in the lives of children across the country, inspiring youth to reach their full potential through hands-on programs that encourage children to explore and innovate.”
Additionally, through the new partnership, Comcast will provide in-kind support that will include national airtime for BGCA’s public service announcements to communicate the benefits Boys & Girls Clubs provide to youth most in need during out-of-school-time.
By partnering with BGCA, Comcast NBCUniversal is harnessing the power of technology and the Internet to expand digital literacy and help conquer the digital divide. Since 2011, Comcast and the Comcast Foundation have dedicated more than $200 million in cash and in-kind support to fund digital readiness initiatives nationwide, reaching more than 1.75 million people through non-profit, digital literacy partners, including Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
According to STEMConnector.org, STEM jobs in the U.S. are expected to grow nearly twice as fast as other fields by 2018. There will be more than 8 million STEM jobs in the U.S. by 2018, but 3 million of them may go unfilled because of a lack of people with required skills. The project-based learning experiences that are a part of My.Future will introduce more young people to STEM-related activities to help address this large, unmet need.
|
|
