Summary
Last year,
Maven was invited to the first ever White House LGBTQ Tech & Innovation Summit in Washington DC. This year,
we've made it a priority for LGBTQ youth to be a part of this unique experience. The event brings together some of the most innovative and influential LGBTQ tech talent across the country to tackle some of America's toughest societal challenges. This year
everyone that attends will also be placed on a team to work on a project for the White House after the summit!
Of the 200 people that will gather nationwide on August 10, 2015, only five will be LGBTQ youth...the five that Maven is bringing and you can get them there!
Meet our LGBTQ Youth Tech & Innovation Team - Eric, Humaira, Julia, Kiernynn and Tessa - AKA "The Maven 5"!
These youth all just attended the Maven Queer Youth Tech Camp in June. Hear directly from them about why this once in a lifetime experience is important and how they plan to change the world.
What We Need & What You Can Do
We need to raise $6,000 to send 5 LGBTQ youth - "The Maven 5" - to the White House LGBTQ Tech & Innovation Summit! Our team will arrive in Washington DC on Saturday, August 8th and depart on Tuesday, August 11th. We'll spend Sunday touring the National Mall Monuments and prepping for the summit on Monday, August 10th. On Tuesday, we're arranging for a White House Tour prior to our flight.
We'll use all donations raised toward:
- Flights to Washington DC
- Lodging in Washington DC
- Meals and ground transportation
- Making this a trip to remember for our youth!
Every dollar supports our campaign to create opportunities for youth. Give what you can and encourage others to give too! As a token of our appreciation everyone that gives to the campaign will receive a very special Maven thank you card. If you've received one before you know it's extra special :)
The Impact Your Support Will Have
Imagine...you're in the prime of your youth, you're in high school or maybe getting ready to graduate or just graduated....what's next? Will you get into college? Will you find a job? On your resume you proudly display that you completed the Maven two week youth tech camp, you participated in a tech summit at the White House with Maven and you worked on a 3 month long project for the White House with leaders across the nation. Yeah, who are we kidding...you got into the college of your dreams, the internship of your dreams and you got the job of your dreams!!!
Your support will make this a reality for "The Maven 5"! Here's what they have to say:
Humaira - Menlo Park, CA
My name is Humaira and I'm 16 years old. When I was a kid (well, more of a kid than I am now), I had so many ideas for what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was going to be a doctor, a dancer, a singer, an actress, and a doctor again. Then one day my father introduced me to computer programming. I remember telling my brother this after my first Python lesson: "I hate coding, and I will never like coding. Never. Not ever."
At least, that's what I thought at the time. Then, after months of almost ripping my hair out and yelling at code on a computer screen, I realized I actually enjoyed programming! Because along with the hair-pulling, there was the triumph that came when the code I wrote did exactly what I wanted it to, and when I managed to solve difficult problems.
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Earlier this year I came out to my parents, and I knew no one like me who I could really talk to. I was lucky enough to find a new LGBTQ youth group in Palo Alto which I could attend regularly, and it was a youth instructor there who introduced me to the Maven Queer Tech Camp.The two weeks I spent at Maven's tech camp were some of the best of my life. I met a lot of extraordinary and talented people. The other youth were so like-minded and accepting, and we all became fast friends. I had a lot of fun there, but I also learned about many of the problems members of the LGBTQ community face, problems that a lot of people don't take seriously or even know exist.
Youth make up a huge part of the LGBTQ community, and our voices need to be heard! The recent legalization of same-sex marriage in all states is just one victory. We're going to do our best to help the LGBTQ community win a few more!
Kiernynn - Santee, CA
My name is Kiernynn. On the surface, I’m a 16 year-old boy going into his senior year of high school with a profound interest for video games and the internet. However, it’s a little harder to see that I’m really a trans male with a knack for advocacy and a dream of making technology work my job. These previous traits are what makes August 10th very important to me.
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Along with four other LGBTQ youth and Maven, a non-profit invested in exposing youth minorities to the tech industry, I have been fundraising for the White House LGBTQ Youth Tech Summit. This summit is focused on solving some social problems and using youth, tech, and the LGBTQ community to do so.
As part of a minority group, it is extremely difficult if not impossible to get a voice in the government and us teenagers are going to be the only youth representation at this conference. It would be crazy for us not to take this opportunity to go considering it’s very reason for happening is for LGBTQ youth.
Not only is this an amazing opportunity for us kids, but it’s an amazing opportunity for these kids to be the voice of a minority in the center of our government--and trust me, we plan on making some noise.
Thank you so much for your help and support!
Julia - Berkeley, CA
My name is Julia. I’m 14 and going into my sophomore year at Berkeley High School. In the future, I hope to be working in the gaming industry, using the interactive stories of video games to help people understand one another, despite differences in class, race, gender, or sexuality. I discovered programming in elementary school when my brother showed me a program called Scratch, a simple click and drag programming language. I spent hours making simple games and animations, but never thought they could ever lead to a career-- or take me to the White House!
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I came out as bisexual to my family and close friends in 8th grade, and, at the time, didn’t think my sexuality would become a big part of my identity. Obviously, I proved myself very wrong. Once I got to high school, I decided to start attending GSA meetings and was surprised to find a welcoming and supportive community of LGBTQ+ people. I heard about Maven’s technology camp through the GSA, and was immediately interested. After all, it merged tech and activism, two of my biggest interests.
I think that it’s incredibly important to have the LGBTQ+ community, as well as other minorities, represented in the tech world because technology is fast becoming one of the most important parts of people’s lives, being used for education, entertainment, and countless other things. Considering how important tech is becoming to society, it would be unfair and unproductive not to have many diverse perspectives going into it so that as many people as possible in our incredibly diverse world can use, enjoy, and understand it.
Thanks for your help and support,
Eric - Gilbert, AZ
My name is Eric. I'm 16 years old and I came out of the closet almost four years ago to my family and friends
and I'm proud to say I have a loving family. I live in a
small town in Arizona called Gilbert. I turned to the tech world of video
production and video editing after starting high school. After two years doing
it I slowly began to realized there are things I could be doing for
my self and for my community.
So after my uncles emailed me a picture of the Maven youth program, I
instantly went to the website and filled out the application. Soon after
starting the camp I made friends and started to learn even more
things about the LGBTQ tech industry.
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By donating to get us to Washington DC, you will be helping us open up doors and bring attention to problems we face in the tech industry such as discrimination. LGBTQ youth are the future of the tech industry we need your help to get to DC and show them how we can help.
If you believe in us please help us by donating.
Tessa - San Francisco, CA
Salutations! My name is Tessa and at first look, I'm a pink haired-punk rock, eighteen year old girl, but in reality I'm so much more (and I'm no girl)! I've been advocating for my fellows in the LGBTQ+ for sometime, and back in March, I even got a gender neutral bathroom at my school. This was a big win for those in the trans and non binary identity at my school, and though I graduated this year, it was cool to have a bathroom to go to for a few months. I even got a little tumblr fame out of it!
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Speaking of social networking, I'm a bit of a social network nut. I have so many accounts that I've started to have to write down all my usernames and passwords just to keep it all straight. I've become very interested in User Interface, or UI for short, and along with my interest for Graphic and Web design, it's leading me into the deep pit of designing. I'm hoping to apply these skills in the tech industry. I've dreamed into going into the tech industry for years and August 10th is my big break it or make it day!
This summit focuses on solving social problems and using tech, youth and the LGBTQ+ community to combat injustice (we're not superheroes, we're just trying to help out). It is an amazing opportunity that could not only change our lives but the lives of many other LGBTQ+ youth.
Thank you all for reading, and stay awesome!
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