NEWaukee and MKE Tech Hub Coalition Lead Initiative to Close STEM Gap

Milwaukee, Wisc. October 21st, 2019 — NEWaukee and the MKE Tech Hub Coalition are teaming up to lead Milwaukee Hour of Code™, occurring December 9-15 during Computer Science Week. The regional initiative, part of Code.org’s national Hour of Code™ movement, aims to address the STEM technology gap by providing students with computer science education.

Regional companies, organizations and tech professionals are invited to get involved by teaching an hour of code to local students during the week. Over 20 Milwaukee companies and organizations have committed to participating so far, with the goal of teaching at least 5,000 hours of code to local students.

“Fostering young tech talent is imperative for our region’s success, and it’s incumbent on our local employers to be involved in leading that charge,” says Angela Damiani, CEO and co-founder of NEWaukee.

Participating companies and organizations so far include 88Nine Radio Milwaukee, Advocate Aurora Health, Bright Cellars, Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Milwaukee, gener8tor, Girls Who Code Marquette University, Islands of Brilliance, Kohl’s, MacGregor Partners, Marquette University Opus College of Engineering, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Northwestern Mutual, Nova High School, PKWare, Rockwell Automation, Sharp Literacy, Stellar Collegiate, STEM Forward, SynerComm and Young Enterprising Society.

Computer science drives growth and innovation throughout the economy and society, but according to Code.org, only 42 percent of Wisconsin high schools teach computer science. Coding is best learned early – the earlier children are exposed to fundamental coding topics, the more they absorb the concepts.

As reported by Code.org, Wisconsin currently has nearly 7,000 open computing jobs, but in 2017 the state only had 1,190 computer science graduates. Of those graduates, only 17% were female. To build the talent needed to be successful in the digital future, the Milwaukee region must establish a strong ecosystem that includes building classroom capacity for STEM education.

Last year, 192 volunteers from more than 20 companies and organizations throughout Milwaukee taught over 4,000 hours of code to regional students.

To get involved, simply sign up at bit.ly/mkehourofcode.

Code.org is a 501c3 public non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. Its vision is that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer programming. After launching in 2013, Code.org organized the Hour of Code campaign – which has introduced over 100 million students to computer science to date – and partnered with 70 public school districts nationwide to expand computer science programs. Code.org is supported by philanthropic donations from corporations, foundations and generous individuals, including Microsoft, Facebook, Infosys Foundation USA, Amazon, and others. For more information, please visit: code.org.

NEWaukee is a social architecture agency that designs memorable in-person experiences that create a sense of belonging inside the communities and companies they work with. Visit www.newaukee.com to learn more.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.