Three Black Teens finalists for the NASA competition — In3
Three black girls who volunteered their time to develop tech solutions at the Inclusive Innovation Incubator (In3) have been compared to the three hidden figures are the only team on the East Coast selected as a finalist for NASA competition.
CI photo girls
WASHINGTON – May 4, 2018 – PRLog — This week has been a life changing experience for the three young black girls who volunteered their time to develop their tech solutions at the Inclusive Innovation Incubator (In3). As they have been propelled and compared to the three hidden figures pioneers, Bria Snell, India Skinner and Mikayla Sharrieff, students from Banneker high school are amongst the 7 youth that were volunteering and provided a technology lab space at In3, located on Georgia avenue NW corridor, close to Howard University.
With the mission to have success stories as such, In3 which is led by Aaron Saunders who is an African American, business owner and passionate about helping people of color in the District navigate their path in the tech industry, has been able to provide support that comprised of In3 tech resources, supervision and mentorship for the youth to pursue their interest and passion for STEM and to adequately work on their solutions to compete at the NASA Goddard OPSPARC Challenge. Their tech solutions focused on water decontamination and with stories like Flint Michigan and safe potable water in the District schools, these STEM enthusiasts became the only team on the East Coast to be selected as a finalist.
An aspiring Engineer, a Doctor and a Scientist were able to secure a spot as a finalist for the NASA competition due to their passion, commitment and drive. NASA selects the winner though to provide further visibility to the finalists and as a tiebreaker, a component of the competition was an online voting. Unfortunately, the competition took a turn when NASA website was hacked and to avoid any further confusion, NASA shut down promptly the crowd voting website.
“Bria Snell, India Skinner and Mikayla Sharrieff are already winners in our eyes” states Aaron Saunders as he is known in the DC as a proponent for diversity and tech, where he runs meetups, leads programming workshops and occasionally speaks on panels the digital divide. With the aim to teach mostly African American youth how to use digital technology, In3 is honored to have worked with the three outstanding students from Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington, DC. In3 team is proud of the work that it’s doing in the community especially with the youth and “having our youth selected as one of 8 national high school Glog section finalist in the NASA competition, only confirms our dedication to bridging the digital divide with technology educational programs” adds Aaron.
Founded in 2016, Inclusive Innovation Incubator (In3) is the District of Columbia’s first community space focused on inclusion, innovation and incubation. The incubator is committed to creating a collaborative environment where under-resourced members have access to the space, services and tech programs to build their business, grow as a professional or start the entrepreneurial path.
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For more information on Inclusive Innovation Incubator (In3):
https://www.in3dc.com/
