The technology revolution is going to be driven by young minds. Google Code Next Inglewood, adjacent to SoFi Stadium, is giving local high school students the tools to be creators within that revolution.
By Jason Lewis
Inglewood has become the sports and entertainment Mecca of the western region of the United States, if not the entire country, according to Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts. With the development of Hollywood Park, which includes SoFi Stadium, the city has evolved tremendously over the last 10 years. But sports and entertainment is not the only goal, and Google Code Next Inglewood at Hollywood Park will help develop the youth for careers in technology.
“In the City of Inglewood, Hollywood Park Tomorrow opened with the opening of SoFi Stadium in 2020,” Butts said. “Since then Hollywood Park has been the epicenter of development in the city. This is another prong on that wheel of how we’re going to have this great stadium and this installation provide opportunity for our youth. We want to see education and jobs for our indigenous residents.”
The population in Inglewood is 92 percent Black and Latino, and those two demographics have been underrepresented in tech fields and tech education.
“We have to think about how we grow the pool of future technologists,” said Kyle Ali, Sr lead program manager for Google.org. “Not every student has the opportunity to learn the kinds of things that we teach here inside of our labs. Whether that is starting off with P5 Java script and moving towards Python. Whether that’s working on collaborative assignments together or becoming more familiar with AI and ML based learning opportunities. Those learning opportunities will shape the workforce of the future. If you don’t have access to it inside of your school, we’re going to make sure that you have access to it right here inside of this lab.”
Code Next is a free tech and AI education program. Most people are consumers of technology, but these students are preparing to be creators of technology.
“We bring them into a lab that has all of the different tools, the mentors, and that has the kind of opportunities that prepares them for thriving careers in technology and academic opportunities,” Ali said.
The students learn the fundamentals of computer science, and this program also prepares the students for internships.
“The most important thing we do here, because there are lots of programs that offer the opportunity to acquire knowledge and build skills, we do that and we help our students build social capital,” Ali said. “We have a lot of students who will come through here that have never been exposed to an environment like this. When they’re ready to go to their first internship opportunity, they’ve never really met with somebody who can mentor them in how to excel in that interview, in that environment, or in that class. By putting our students next to other students who share similar backgrounds, that are equally ambitious, that are working through some of the same challenges, exposing them to world class environments, they won’t be intimidated when they walk into a big time college or university, or a big time job interview.”
It has been said for years that the jobs of the future are in tech, but that future has already arrived, and younger people will be creating and managing the advancements in the field.
“We are at the precipice of the next technology revolution,” said Travis Sampson, SVP and chief technology officer, SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park. “It’s not going to be driven by old folks like myself. It’s going to be driven by young minds. It’s imperative for us to educate them with the right tools to be dynamic in a space that’s going to grow at a pace that they’re not going to be able to keep up if they don’t have the necessary tools to do so. Google Next puts them in a classroom environment where they can get their minds challenged in a way where they step out of their comfort zone, not only from an educational standpoint, but from a growth perspective.”
Hollywood Park and SoFi Stadium use a massive amount of technology throughout the campus, so having a tech program in the City of Inglewood can keep talented individuals in their home city when they get into their careers.
“As these high school students transcend into college, we have internship programs and initiative programs that will bring them back not only to Code Next, but also to bring them back to SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park to take the real-world applications of what they’re doing in these labs and apply it to a profession or a day-to-day business,” Sampson said. “The opportunity for them to start off as interns and ultimately grow into more corporate roles are there.”
A program like this can also help these high school students gain admissions into college, as many universities are looking for well-rounded students who participated in programs outside of their schools.
“College applications now aren’t just about your academics,” Sampson said. “It’s what you’re doing outside of school. It’s how you’re involved within the community. It’s the things that create you as a person. When colleges look at these students they see a fully-formed young person where they have the technical chops to be able to compete with other students and they’ll also have the personal attributes to be impactful. What we’re building here at Code Next is doing for them very much speaks to that.”
For more information and to apply to Google Code Next Lab Inglewood, visit https://codenext.withgoogle.com/
