When a global plague generates an employment and parenting catastrophe that threatens to dig an already deep hole deeper for Black America, somebody needs to come over the horizon with help, right?
Meet Gerald Moore, who walked away from a cyber-security career and waded into the dilemma of how to inspire and educate black schoolboys, equip them with basic computer hardware and steer them into the gap between white and non-white participation in the high-tech world.
“When the pandemic first hit, and schools shut down in March, we were able to pivot … and launch a successful online computer science program,” Moore said recently of his nonprofit entity –Mission Fulfilled 2030.
His goal is to prepare Black boys to play a role in the technology arena that already sees only five percent participation by Black males.
By 2030, he says he wants to have prepared 100,000 students from underprivileged and underserved communities to “meet the digital high-tech workforce demand of 2030.”
So far, Mission Fulfilled 2030 can point to modest success in Hyattsville, Md. at the St. Ann Center for Children, Youth and Families where his non-profit has provided eleven Chromebooks, a printer, and all the services they need to keep them running.
Moore also addresses parental needs. Prince George’s resident Milekia Green says that she and her son, who is in pre-K, were challenged with logging on properly, due to not having appropriate equipment.
A laptop promised by her son’s school never arrived, so they were trying to do schoolwork on a smartphone. “We were not able to accomplish much using the phone because people kept calling and it was very frustrating,” Green said. “Gerald came right on time. The process was very fast. It was amazing. The laptop worked great and my son was able to do his schoolwork much easier.”
“I felt a little greedy for asking but I knew that we could use the Chromebooks,” Sister Mary Bader, a nun at St. Ann’s, where homeless single mothers find temporary shelter. “I know that many school systems and students are struggling to just have technology because there is such inequality in terms of who has and doesn’t have access to what is needed.”
Moore said he has found laptops using corporate donations and raised $11,000 this year but is still financially short. To support this effort, please visit www.missionfulfilled2030.org, and to donate go to this site https://bit.ly/mf2030givingtuesday. Families in need with students in the U.S. who are in grades K-12 may apply for Chromebooks via a case for support form via http://bit.ly/mf2030-cfs.