NYC mentorship program puts startup staffers in schools
Azariah and her classmates spent the past week developing product ideas and as part of a mentorship program that sends engineers and designers from New York City's burgeoning tech industry into high-poverty public schools.
Backers hope the program, which is expanding to other cities, will inspire kids to consider high-tech careers and can eventually help boost diversity at companies like Google and Facebook.
The program, which concluded Friday with students pitching their ideas like contestants on a grade-school "Shark Tank," was the brainchild of Alex Rappaport, the co-founder of Flocabulary, which makes educational hip-hop videos.
The goals include teaching 21st-century skills, putting students on pathways to careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and increasing diversity in the tech industry, which remains overwhelmingly male and white or Asian.
According to figures released last year, Facebook's employees are 4 percent Hispanic and 2 percent black.
Because you're building something from scratch.