Web Volunteers to the Rescue!
Jack Smith is on a mission to bring high tech to Harlem
by Claudia La Rocco
On
December 4, 17 residents of Harlem public housing graduated from the Tech
Skills Program, sponsored by the New York City Housing Authority and the
Urban Technology Center (UTC). The recent graduates vary in race, age,
and gender. Although many have no formal education beyond high school–and
none had any previous experience with high tech– all are now trained
in hardware repair and Web development, and might soon be filling some
of the many technological positions open in local companies.
The man behind this program is Jack Smith, senior director of technology for DME Interactive Holdings and a graduate student at Columbia University's Advanced Information Technology Management Program (AITM). Says Smith, "I grew up in the South Bronx projects. I won scholarships to Harvard and Columbia, and I wanted to use the power of technology to give back.... I never promised [these students] jobs or money–I promised that if they got involved with the Web, they could find a resource to help change their lives." In the summer of 1999, Smith convinced the Allaire Corporation to donate its ColdFusion software to an existing hardware-repair program run by UTC. With this software, Smith expanded the program to include a Web development component.
This expansion was just the beginning of a constantly evolving and ambitious program designed to get Harlem residents "A+ certified" in ColdFusion and thus give them a means to become part of the new economy. After obtaining software and a grant from UTC, Smith reached out to Sandra Oei, who runs multimedia Web-development firm SoVisual, in order to provide his students artistic guidance. He then discussed the project with his professor, Dr. Art Langer, the chair of Faculty and Curricular Development for Programs in Information Technology, Continuing Education and Special Programs at Columbia. According to Langer, when Smith approached him with the idea of the Aitm.net Web Project, "he was really looking for something that the [students] could work on and produce and asked whether or not a portal for the Advanced Information Technology Management Program was something that we were capable of supporting."
From the start, Smith has been adamant about making the class more than a wholly academic experience. "I didn't want this to be a 'techie' experience. I wanted, as much as possible, to give people a real-world experience of building a Web site, with deadlines and clients u ho are demanding. I wanted them to feel like it was their own company." In order to cut through the red tape, says Langer, he simply allowed the project to go on his own Web page as a special section, "Columbia University Aitm.net, " which serves as an online community for students, faculty, and alumni of the AITM Program.
But Langer's involvement hardly ends there. He is insistent that the students get something in return for their work, all of which is unpaid. To this end, Langer has taken on the rather daunting commitment of mentoring all 17 of the Web trainees–or, as Smith and Langer like to call them "volunteers"–as part of a research project on "Adults in Technology." Langer is very interested in the project from an "intellectual development point of view." He has put no limits on the scope of this mentoring, which is "not 'technical' per se but rather assisting students to reach their goals and, in some cases, helping them formulate their goals, both professionally and academically."
Although finding the time to meet with students has been challenging, Langer is committed to the process, stressing the importance of stability and longevity. "Mentoring can only be accomplished over a longer period, [not] just a few meetings–it requires both parties to be committed to authenticity and the relationship in general," he says.
The trust that has developed between the Web volunteers and their teachers is immediately apparent upon seeing the group interact with Langer and Smith. Smith refers to his pupils as "stars" and jokes about forcing them to give graduation speeches. Part of this camaraderie can be attributed to his and Langer's background. "The fact that I also came from the South Bronx had some meaning to these folks–that I went to school at night, went through similar challenges," Langer says.
This sense of community and shared experience extends well beyond the volunteers. Reginald Roberson, who has already been A+ certified, says he won't be able to relax until his classmates are: "I very much see myself as part of something bigger. We're all pretty hungry. We are doing this for our children and our grandchildren, so they won't be left behind."
The feeling of being left behind is pervasive in many lower-income communities.
Hector Bonilla, who had no experience with computers and got involved with the program in order to further his "intellectual development," says his friends and relatives have "a sense that we are behind somehow, that technology is passing us over. It bothers people. We need to get up to speed. The problem is education and lack of information–parents buy their kids jackets and sneakers, you know, they don't buy them computers. Why not save some of that money? Computers are not that expensive. The problem is lack of education. Communities aren't aware."
Guetty Dominique agrees, saying, "I used to hear about the Web, but I never knew what it was. [This class] interested me–the more I knew, the more I wanted to know to satisfy myself. Now, I love them both–being a technician and a Web developer. My only problem is finding a way to marry the two."
It is this sort of enthusiasm that Smith hopes to tap; he plans to build an army of community-based Web developers who can meet the high-tech needs of Harlem organizations that cannot afford larger, more established agencies.
With one successful class under his belt, Smith's biggest problem might be retaining the folks he has trained. Organizations such as Thirteen/WNET New York–whose CTO and vice president Ken Devine sits on the advisory board of the AITM Program– are already interviewing Harlem Web volunteers for internships.
For people like Jorge Cruz who has been hired as a full-time technology intern at WNET–being part of the Aitm.net Web Project is about much more than getting a job: "All of us in the past, we had one family member that succeeded in college," he says. "Now in my family there is one member who has succeeded at computers. No one in my family has any knowledge of computers. When I sit down at the table and explain to my family about IT and Web development, they're just amazed. They see that I'm focused, they see that I have a second wind, and they're learning a lot from me. That's an experience that is lifting me, making me more serious. My children look at me differently now–'Look at Dad, he's really going at it.' ... I have a tremendous desire to succeed."