Did you know that:

  • Des Moines was recently recognized as the #4 market for tech jobs with job listings up 44% last quarter (Source: CompTIA)
  • Computer science is marginalized in education as only 59 schools in Iowa offer an AP Computer Science course and there are fewer AP exams taken in computer science than in any other STEM subject area (Source: Code.org; College Board)
  • Of the 593 AP computer science exams taken in 2020, only 20% were taken by female students, only 44 exams (7%) were taken by Hispanic/Latinx students and only 18 exams (3%) were taken by Black/African American students (Source: Code.org; College Board)

Tech Journey was founded in 2013 to mitigate this talent gap by inspiring student interest and improving student access to technology. Through our annual immersive Tech Camp experience, Tech Journey has provided over 130 central Iowa students with needed hardware, access to digital tools, age-appropriate curriculum on relevant technological topics and access to local technology professionals who serve as volunteer facilitators and mentors. In 2020, Tech Journey opened doors for:

  • 31% more female students,
  • 9% more Black/African American students,
  • 12% more Hispanic/Latinx students, and
  • 11% more Asian students as compared to those taking AP computer science exams.

Aria, a current Tech Camp student, shares “I admit at first I didn’t really like technology and coding. But after attending some of the camps I started to do more hands-on coding. I started to build on what I learned and I enjoy the coding process. I enjoy having a problem to solve and seeing the final project. The more I attended the camps, the more I loved working with technology.”

Please consider helping us encourage more students like Aria by making a donation to Tech Journey. All contributions before June 30, 2021 are eligible for up to a 10 percent match through the Birdies for Charity program to make a more significant impact. The Birdies for Charity program is part of the Principal Charity Classic, an annual award-winning PGA TOUR Champions event dedicated to investing in the future of Iowa youth.

Donate today

Your donation will be used by Tech Journey to expand our programming and reach more youth. While we will continue our annual summer Tech Camp experience for high school students, in 2019 we added the YouthCode program which introduces elementary and middle school students to coding and robotics as well as the CoderDojoDSM program which provides monthly mentoring meetups for youth to hone their coding and related computing skills. In 2021, we added a scholarship program for students continuing their education in technology programs after high school.