Spotlight On

Mission:
Byte Back partners with local organizations and volunteers to provide computer access and career ladder computer training to underemployed and unemployed adults, and computer literacy to at-risk youth. Byte Back empowers, serves the community, builds confidence, educates, and helps people get better jobs.

Background:
Byte Back was founded in 1997 by Glenn Stein, a community leader and computer professional. Through recruitment of technical and teaching volunteers, Byte Back began to provide hands-on computer training to the Washington, DC community, enabling economically disadvantaged people to acquire marketable computer skills.

During its first year, Byte Back created the Internship Technology Academy. As part of this one-year program, interns major in Web Development or Network Administration, while working for Byte Back in exchange for their training. Using this unique learning model, Byte Back has been able to expand rapidly, and to provide additional training and services to the community through four additional programs.

Over the past six years, Byte Back has accomplished the following:

• Increased the number of professional volunteers and developed a pool of over 600 computer professionals who volunteer their time by teaching courses and developing curricula.

• Provided information technology infrastructure to technologically underserved community-based organizations; Byte Back staff and students have set up over 25 computer labs for schools, churches, and other non-profits.

• Increased the number of Community Tech classes; Twelve hours of training to over 5000 adult students.

• Helped at-risk youth by providing over 15 youth-serving organizations with the expertise needed to develop computer-based learning for their programs.

• Graduated 38 students from the Internship Technology Academy; Graduates have been hired for jobs with salaries ranging from $32,000-$80,000, and have a full time employment rate of 75%. Ten percent are IT consultants.

Current Programs:

• Community Tech
  Byte Back offers community classes that meet once a week for six weeks. As many as 15 classes are offered during one six-week session, and sessions are held throughout the entire calendar year. Courses are inexpensive and range from beginner to advanced.

• Fast Track
  An accelerated eight-week program designed to provide basic Microsoft Office skills to beginning computer users. A core curriculum of Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Basic Hardware is offered in eight-week sessions, with 72 hours of instruction and hands-on training. Fast Track will train an estimated 200 students this fiscal year.

• Internship Technology Academy
  The Byte Back Internship program is the heart of Byte Back, as it is the interns who support Byte Back's other programs. Interns receive ten hours of free training a week in exchange for ten hours of work for Byte Back as site administrators, receptionists, teachers, network assistants, technical support staff, and program assistants. Student projects involve setting up computer labs and developing web sites for Washington area non-profit organizations. There are currently 30 students enrolled in the program.

• Youth-Tech Partnering
  Byte Back partners with youth-service organizations to provide computer lab set-up, technical support, hands-on objective based curricula, and consulting services. Last summer it also trained middle school-aged youth from the World Mission Extension Center in Web Design.

• Tech-Gap: Technical consulting for non-profits
  Byte Back provides computer lab set-up, technology assessment, and other technical resources for community-based organizations that cannot afford IT consultants. Interns receive hands-on training and Byte Back earns fees while providing a service to the community. Byte Back has assisted seven organizations in the past year.

Funding Needs:
Program support, up-to-date computer equipment (hardware, software, office supplies), and student scholarships.

The "Spotlight On" highlights the activities of a different 501(c)3 nonprofit organization serving the Metropolitan Washington, DC community. The selection of organizations for the "Spotlight On" is based on criteria such as programmatic interests, geographic focus, and size, to ensure the broadest possible representation of the region's nonprofit sector.

If you'd like to see your NPO in the "Spotlight," e-mail a description of your organization, following the above format, to dclibrary@foundationcenter.org, with "Spotlight Submission" in the subject line.