At Gingko, we recognize that electronic waste is a large contributor to environmental racism. As we continue to grow and our needs change, we have sought ways to minimize our impact on the environment in several ways, including beginning a composting program in our community kitchen spaces and donating equipment instead of disposing of it.
This year, we had the opportunity to donate over 100 Chromebooks to three organizations. These donations not only helped to minimize our impact on the environment, but also allowed us to support organizations whose missions align with our own, including Minds of Jamaica, Kids in Tech, and the DataTrail Program.
DataTrail DataTrail is a no-cost, paid 14-week educational initiative for young-adult, high school and GED-graduates. DataTrail aims to equip members of underserved communities with the necessary skills and support required to work in the booming field of data science. Kids in Tech excites, educates, and empowers children to acquire skills and confidence in technology through interactive after school programs, helping kids develop the necessary tech skills and aptitudes to participate in and be future leaders of the 21st-century innovation economy. And finally, Minds of Jamaica is a mentorship platform that gives underrepresented minority students access to professionals in the community to provide mentorship opportunities in fields such as engineering, arts, science, technology, and more. Minds of Jamaica also offers their mentees unique training opportunities in bioinformatics and data science.
The first of these donations have begun reaching students in Jamaica and Trinidad and are already making a difference. One student, who up until now has been working from home due to COVID, has been working off of her cell phone for the last year. With our donations to Minds of Jamaica, she is now able to participate fully in her education.
We hope to continue to build our relationship with these organizations and look for other ways to reduce our environmental impact in the world while leveraging our resources to open the gates to STEM careers more widely to historically marginalized communities.
