Attorney + Influencer + YouTuber

Attorney + Influencer + YouTuber

Hello! Welcome to Forge Member Spotlights! This is one of our favorite types of blog posts, because we get the unique privilege of highlighting one of Forge’s incredible members. I had the honor of chatting with one of our members and learning more about her and her story.

 

Everyone meet Kameron Monet, a YouTuber, Influencer and Lawyer – I think you’ll find her as cool as I do!

 

 

How did you get into YouTube?

What inspires you to create content?

 

Unlike many other aspiring lawyers, I didn’t grow up always wanting to become a lawyer. Growing up I loved the performing arts, photography and video production. I was in several local plays, school plays, and would record my own at-home short films. I’d say I’ve always been a creative at heart. Fast forward to college, I had to pick a major and felt the pressure of picking a “real career” as people around me put it.

 

Also, during this time, I started my YouTube channel, specifically on October 6, 2014 I uploaded my first YouTube video not realizing this was a step towards my future career. So, I spoke with my academic advisor, who was a lawyer himself, and he told me to take some pre-law classes and check out the mock trial team to see if law was something, I’d be interested in. I took his advice, joined the mock trial team, became a legal assistant at a local law firm, and I was hooked! The same empowering feeling I got on stage, I then got while being in the courtroom.

 

I received my Bachelor of Science in Political Science and a minor in Criminology from Kennesaw State University in 2015. Upon graduation I took a gap year before going to law school and began my legal journey at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in the Fall of 2016.

 

During this time, I remember searching on Google and YouTube for law school tips and law students showing their day to day lives, but there really wasn’t much out there. So, I picked up my camera and began to vlog my experience, the raw, real, honest truth about law school. I was nervous because my content up to this point was all about hair, makeup, and beauty type videos, but I quickly realized there were other aspiring lawyers out there that wanted to see what it’s really like to be a law student.

 

3 years later, I graduated from Cumberland School of Law in May of 2019, I took and passed the Alabama Bar Exam in 2019 and began my career as an Associate Attorney practicing Employment Litigation, while simultaneously using social media to create content around fashion, beauty, lifestyle, as well as female professionalism and career building. At this point, the idea of a non-traditional lawyer career path became more and more appealing. So, I quit my 9-to-5 law firm job to live what I call the best of both worlds.

 

Today, I have built an engaging and organic audience with over 100,000 followers across my platforms @kameronmonet, working with brands from Dove to Dyson to Ulta Beauty. After realizing my social media expertise and license to practice law could provide value for aspiring “Lawyer Influencers”, as well as educate content creators about the power of contracts when signing brand deals; I launched my Influencer Contract Consulting service. On a monthly basis I help creatives on a one-on-one basis navigate the legalize of contracts to gain complete understanding and secure higher paid opportunities!

 

What is your favorite part of being an attorney?

And your favorite part of being an influencer/Youtuber?

 

I love having one foot in the door as an influencer/content creator and the other in the door as an attorney! It allows me to see both sides of the coin very clear and perfectly bridge the gap between the two.

 

I bet it is difficult to juggle the demands of being an attorney & an influencer. How do you manage both?

 

Three things come to mind when I think about how I manage juggling the demands of being an attorney and influencer.

 

  1. Staying organized and planning. I use Google Drive, Google Calendar, ClickUp, and timers to stay on top of everything I need to get done on a daily, monthly, and quarterly basis.
  2. My manager. I hired her back in August 2020 and she has helped me so much with staying on top of brand partnerships and so much more!
  3. Prioritizing self-care. I’m what most people would call a work-a-holic, I genuinely love working! However, I can’t pour from an empty cup, so I really make it a priority to implement something related to self-care almost daily. Overall, I love what I do so it’s worth the crazy, busy, and stressful times, haha!

 

What is the biggest lesson or takeaway you’ve gathered from your time as an attorney and influencer?

 

My favorite life lesson quote is ‘What’s for you, is for you.’ Being in both the legal profession and the social media industry can make it hard not to fall into the comparison game or have imposter syndrome. I’m speaking from personal knowledge. But once I decided to stop focusing on how fast others were meeting their goals or how they would get an opportunity I’d love to have, I realized that I’ve always gotten the opportunities perfect for me. I love supporting others on their unique career journeys and no matter how many resources I share with them or how many connections I help others make, what is meant for me, will always be for me. I truly believe that no one can take what God has planned for my life.

 

If you were to give advice to your younger self what would it be?

 

It always seems impossible until it’s done. One of the hardest things about starting something is actually starting it. I can think of many times when I’ve talked myself out of starting something because of the fear of failure and the intimidation of accomplishing a goal that seems impossible. But everyone has to start somewhere. The successful people we’re inspired by had to start somewhere.

 

So, guess what I have to do? Start somewhere. Which is why I constantly remind myself to not compare my day 1 to someone else’s day 27. If you would’ve asked me on October 6, 2014 after uploading my first YouTube video if I’d make money from it, let alone build an entire career from it, I would’ve said ‘that’s impossible.’ Today my response, ‘it’s beyond possible.’

 

What is something you wish more people knew about you and the industries you work in?

 

When people think of what defines a lawyer, they immediately think of what they see on tv shows. Generally, society says lawyers are conservative, always dressed in a suit, constantly in and out of the courthouse for trials, mostly men, working at law firms, barely sleeping, stressed, and making hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sure, there are a few doing some of that but that is not the majority. Even taking it a step further, law schools put a lot of pressure on law students to get the best grades, work for the best big law firms and become partner at that firm someday. However, this completely overlooks so many other amazing career opportunities that come with simply obtaining a Juris Doctorate.

 

As a black female lawyer leaving the traditional law firm life to build a lane to bridge the gap between law and social media, simply put, I’m paving the way to show others that there’s more than one lane to succeed in the legal profession. No, I may not be the first, but I pride myself in being authentic, genuine, honest and real. On my YouTube channel “Kameron Monet” I show the raw behind the scenes of the good, bad, and ugly through my “Weekly Vlog” series. My goal is to redefine what society generalizes as a lawyer and to inspire and motivate others on their law school journey and entrepreneurship journey!”

 

 

What is your favorite part about your job?

 

My favorite part about being an influencer is creating genuine connections with my online community and providing value to my audience through the knowledge and experience I gain! My favorite part about being an attorney is being able to give my clients more time to create and not worry about making sure they’re protected in their brand partnerships and watching them get excited about the power of contacts!

 

 

Why did you decide to join Forge? 

 

I’m sure we all can relate to being tired of working from home or being more productive when working around others working, and both of those were me! I used a free day pass to get a feel for Forge and I was so much more productive that I knew I had to sign up to become a member. Forge is such a beautiful space, perfectly located downtown exactly where I wanted to be, and does a great job with encouraging member connections! I haven’t participated in many members group events, but I love that I have that option and I’m excited to start attending more soon!

 

_________________

I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about Kameron Monet and her passions. If you want more from this incredible women, visit her website, YouTube, Instagram, or other socials. To join Kameron and the plethora of awesome members at Forge, please visit our website. You can book your tour of Forge today. Forge is currently running a Summer Special, if you join with a Coworking Membership in May or June, you can buy the first month and get your second month of membership free!

 

 

10 Women-Owned Companies at Forge

10 Women-Owned Companies at Forge

As we close out Women’s History Month, we’re looking to the female business owners at Forge. These women range from podcasters to marketers to estheticians- we absolutely love the variety of companies represented in our workspace. Forge even has a member who has developed an app helping prevent police violence. Read on to find out more about the women owned businesses at Forge!

 

CLM Experts | Lynette Samuels

Lynette Samuels is the Founder & CEO of CLM Experts. She prides herself  in possessing over 20 years of experience in credit repair, collection and business. Lynette enjoys helping people develop business relationships and create multiple streams of income while creating secure true financial education and freedom.

Since January 2017, Lynette has been building CLM Experts from the ground up. She has worked with over 250 clients to help them start their own business and repair their credit stores.

 

 

 

Elevate Communications | Debra Nelson

 

As the Founder of Elevate Communications, Debra Nelson is recognized among the nation’s leading diversity and inclusion practitioners and public relations experts. Her successful corporate career includes executive positions in industries spanning media, higher education, automotive manufacturing, construction, and gaming and hospitality. Debra leads Elevate, a firm dedicated to delivering professional development and communication services.

She is a career coach, speaker, and seminar leader on topics related to diversity and inclusion, professional development and women’s empowerment.

 

 

The Popcast | Jamie Golden

 

Jamie Golden is the Co-Founder of The Popcast Media Group. Jamie B. Golden has been cohosting The Popcast with Knox and Jamie since August 2013. It is a nationally ranked, weekly pop culture podcast that’s part deep dive, mostly shallow end. Jamie and Knox also launched their newest podcast, The Bible Binge, in February 2018. Both of her podcasts are ranked in top 1% of all podcasts. We love that The Popcast records their podcast right here in Forge! Jamie has over 50,000 followers on her Instagram so go ahead and follow along if you want to be entertained!

 

 

 

 

One Degree Marketing | Jacqui Jones

 

Jacqui Jones is the CEO of One Degree MMM and founder of Elevation Academy. One Degree MMM is a core-service marketing firm fueled by the best and brightest marketing and branding creatives who empower entrepreneurs and business owners via quality marketing services that will grow and sustain their business vision. Jacqui is a talented marketer, teacher and speaker. Check out her TEDx Birmingham talk!

 

 

 

 

Empirical Data Strategies | Jami Medina

 

 

Jami Medina is the CEO of Empirical Data Strategies. Their goal is to support small and growing businesses with the same project management, software development and implementation, custom CRM implementation and dashboard-driven analytics that the big guys provide, at a price that any business can afford. Empirical Data Strategies also offers the best in Data Science Consulting. Their expertise is in providing you with the mentorship to get big work done, make big decisions, and have easy access to information to grow your company.

 

 

 

 

Shea Shea Beauty & Brow | Shea Doriety

 

Shea Doriety is the Owner of Shea Shea Beauty & Brow. Shea is an Esthetician and make-up artist that has been customizing professional looks for 15 years! Shea has amazing reviews from her clients like this one- “Shea not only is a professional at what she does, but she takes care of her clients as if they are family. She gives you high class treatment, doesn’t rush you, or waste your time.”

 

 

RightThere Corporation | Maria Watkins

 

Maria Watkins is the Founder and CEO of RightThere Corporation. She developed the RightThere protech app/wearable device to accomplish their mission of preventing police violence. The app assists in preventing police misconduct, reducing civil rights violations and much more. The wearable device will be interfaced with the RTC Protech App and provide some of the same features. Other features will reduce dangerous encounters, such as hate crimes, child abductions and domestic disputes.

 

 

 

 

La Luna Agency | Onna Cunningham

 

Luna is a marketing collective founded in Birmingham and committed to serving clients across the globe. Onna is Owner of Luna and an agency professional with ten years of experience in leadership, team management, client relations, business and operational development in the marketing industry. Luna specializes in marketing strategy, campaign and messaging development, social media strategy and management, website design and development, public relations and much more!

 

 

 

eCure | Shawn Powe

 

Shawn Powe is the Founder of eCure and she is also a Nurse Practitioner. The ER isn’t needed for all medical conditions- that’s why eCure is available to take care of your telemedicine appropriate conditions. eCure will soon have CureCalls (HouseCalls), where they come to the comfort of your home. Powe believes in eCure’s vision of providing affordable and convenient healthcare. Powe’s life goals are to fight for equal healthcare for the disenfranchised while also educating the community to live healthier lifestyles.

 

 

 

 

Kameron Monet | Kameron Buckner

 

Kameron M. Buckner, Esq. is a licensed attorney, content creator, and social media strategist. Kameron has built an engaging and organic audience with over 100,000 followers across her platforms @kameronmonet, working with brands from Dove to Dyson to Ulta Beauty. After realizing her social media expertise and license to practice law could provide value for aspiring “Lawyer Influencers”, as well as educate content creators about the power of contracts when signing brand deals; Kameron quit her 9-to-5 law firm job to live what she calls the best of both worlds.

 

 

 

Are you a female entrepreneur, small business owner or remote worker looking to get out of your home office? We know it’s tough to stay productive at home. Come try out Forge! We’d love to offer you a free Day Pass to try out our coworking space. Email us at info@workatforge.com to claim your free day pass!

Forge Member Spotlight: Claire Scherzer with Ellis Architects

Forge Member Spotlight: Claire Scherzer with Ellis Architects

We love that within the Forge community you can find a variety of people from different companies with different job titles- that’s what makes the Forge family so unique. Claire Scherzer is a Forge member who works as an Interior Designer for Ellis Architects. We asked her more about her company and how the pandemic has affected her job.

Alabama Department of Public Health- State Public Health Laboratory

Tell us more about Ellis Architects and your job position!

 

Ellis Architects is a full service architectural and interior design firm, founded in 1992. We serve a variety of educational, residential, commercial, civic, religious and healthcare clients located throughout the state.  

 

 

 

As a Registered Senior Interior Designer with our team, I strive to create interior environments that address the well-being, health and safety of client needs, while making informed decisions about style and aesthetics that are cohesive and timeless. I work collaboratively with our project team from the early conceptual phase through the completion of the built environment and the client’s occupancy.

 

 

What is your favorite aspect of being an Interior Designer?

 

Our firm is fortunate that we serve a variety of project types, so no two projects are the same. Having the trust of our clients to turn their ideas, visions and dreams into the reality of a built environment provides great satisfaction and is my favorite aspect of being an Interior Designer. No matter the circumstances, the opportunity to design interior spaces that ultimately lead to the success of our clients is positively rewarding. 

 

 

 

 

 

How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your business? 

 

Among the many things this current pandemic has taught us, is that interior design matters. Many of the industries that we work within on a daily basis: hospitality, education, hospitals, residential, retail and commercial spaces are all witnessing first-hand the need for their interior environments to be modified quickly to better protect the health, safety, and welfare of its occupants. 

 

As a design professional, we are used to putting the needs of our clients first. With our “new normal”, our learned attributes of understanding, patience, and problem-solving have become critical to our path forward. Some projects have been placed on hold due to the unknown, so we have to be sensitive with our client communication and understand their challenges. Developments in virtual technology have allowed us to continue review meetings. The introduction of new materials and products currently in development that increase safety for end-users is at the forefront of all discussions. Easy to clean materials, antimicrobial finishes, touchless anything are now a must for heavy traffic areas! 

 

It has certainly been a challenge as we navigate through unchartered waters, but striving to use our creative talents to discover the best solutions is what we do! 

 

 

Why did you decide to choose Forge as a coworking space? 

 

Forge checked off so many of the needs for our firm including convenient location for our Birmingham team members, a collaborative working environment, and so many wonderful amenities. Of course, who wouldn’t love the many dining options available with just a quick walk downstairs to the Pizitz Food Hall! 

 

Be sure to check out the work of Ellis Architects Inc. on Instagram and Facebook.

 

 

Forge Member Serving the Healthcare Community While Partnering with Birmingham Businesses

Forge Member Serving the Healthcare Community While Partnering with Birmingham Businesses

During the COVID crisis, CareHealth is providing meals to healthcare professionals across Birmingham. By utilizing local restaurants as their food providers, CareHealth is pouring resources back into the Birmingham small business community. CareHealth is an initiative of Urban Avenues and we love having Madison Kerns, Director of Operations at Urban Avenues, as part of the Forge community! Read on for our Q&A about how they are serving Birmingham during this pandemic!

 

 

How did you get the inspiration for the idea?

 

Our venture Five Loaves is focused on uniting communities through food, so we’ve always had a heart for the restaurant community in this city. While we were trying to think of ways to support our friends in the industry, we were seeing groups in cities like San Francisco and New York feeding healthcare teams with food from local restaurants.

 

We hit the ground running, formed the idea into a model that worked well for our organization, and worked with restaurant owners and healthcare professionals to make sure we had a system that prioritized safety and maximized our impact. In two days, we had a full list of restaurant partners, a website, and team of volunteer drivers!

 

 

What kind of response have you gotten from the healthcare community, local restaurant owners and donors about your efforts?

 

The response has been so overwhelmingly positive. The community has been incredibly supportive and are truly the only reason we can do what we do. They’re eager to serve Birmingham while maintaining safety, and CareHealth has created an easy way to do both.

 

Healthcare teams are sending thank you emails, photos, and cards daily. They’re feeling the support of the community and have expressed how it fuels them to face COVID-19 every day. Our restaurant partners have been wonderful throughout this entire pandemic!

 

It’s a difficult time for their industry, but their main focus has been giving back to the healthcare teams. It’s such an honor to support them and create a space for them to serve the healthcare communities.

 

 

 

So far, how many meals have been served? And how many departments have received food?

 

We’ve served over 2,500 meals across 65 departments thus far! We’re working over 15 hospitals and healthcare facilities across the Greater Birmingham Area to deliver meals to their teams and show the community’s support.

 

 

How long do you think the CareHealth initiative will last? Do you plan to continue the efforts post COVID?

 

Even as we hear plans to reopen states, we are still, unfortunately, far from normal. CareHealth was created to be a community response for those fighting COVID-19, and we plan to follow through on that mission until it is no longer needed. We’re open to the possibility that our model may change in the coming months to include other types of first responders and are beginning to plan for potential shifts in how we operate. Until then, we’re excited to increase our meals served each week!

 

We love seeing members of the Forge community out serving Birmingham- especially during a time like this!

 

 

9 ways STREAM Innovations is igniting the imaginations of young people in Fairfield and beyond

9 ways STREAM Innovations is igniting the imaginations of young people in Fairfield and beyond

 

 

 

Dr. Adrienne Starks of Stream Innovations works at Forge (Bham Now)

 

Bham Now recently wrote this story about Forge member Dr. Adrienne Starks of STREAM Innovations. Read on about the amazing work she is doing!

 

You can’t spend any time with Dr. Adrienne Starks without realizing she’s on a mission. Part of that mission is to help turn Birmingham’s young people on to the thrill of discovery. She’s doing that through STREAM Innovations, a nonprofit she founded in 2015 to bring science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and math to students in her hometown of Fairfield and beyond.

Read on to find out how she’s making a difference here with STREAM and across the globe with a new ambassadorship.

 

1—Dr. Adrienne Starks was just named one of 125 IF/THEN ambassadors for women in STEM .

 

Getting selected for this ambassadorship is no small feat. This rockstar cohort of 125 women from across the country includes two women from Alabama, and Dr. Starks is one of them.

Before she came home to Alabama, she worked at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) doing cancer research comparing African American and European populations, and before that she did genetics research.

In her new role, she gets to represent Alabama and serve as a role model and source of inspiration for middle school girls.

Find out more about If/Then. Contact Dr. Starks at communication@streaminnovations.org about speaking engagements.

2—Why STREAM Innovations?

 

When I asked Dr. Starks what led her from doing cancer research at the National Institutes for Health (NIH) just outside DC to starting STREAM Innovations here in Birmingham, here’s what she said:

 

“Students in underrepresented or underserved communities don’t get the same level of expsoure that students in other places get. This includes Alabama as a whole, compared to what students on the East coast or West coasts get.

It’s important to see people who have the same passion you do. It gives young people courage to say ‘I’m gonna try something I’ve never seen anyone here do. That can take you places you’ve never imagined.”

Learn more about STREAM Innovations.

 

 

3—Science is the best travel plan.

 

 

Dr. Starks, as a triple minority in many spaces within the scientific community—meaning a woman, US-born and African American—discovered that science is the “best travel plan.”

For her, it’s been amazing to have the opportunity to network and develop collaborations with people anywhere around the world on the basis of shared passions. “You get to go to some of the most amazing conferences all over the world doing the thing you love.”

She loves helping to open doors to these types of opportunities to young people in the Birmingham area.

 

“Science removes a lot of barriers. Society tries to seprate us in a lot of ways – gender, class, race, exposure, what country we’re from. But if you have a paper in Nature, Science or another journal, your Southern drawl doesn’t matter.

Fellow scientists will look over accents, whether it’s a really heavy German, Nigerian, Dutch or Southern accent. They want to hear from you because  you’re the person that came up with something they’re interested in. That’s the beauty of it, in my opinion.”

4—Dr. Starks’ journey from Fairfield into scientific spaces.

 

 

“I always wanted a microscope as a kid for Christmas. When I got a microscope, it gave me the opportunity to see something new, first from prepared slides, then from my own slides. From there, I did summer science programs at UAB. There weren’t a lot of people from Fairfield in my programs.

Once I did the first program, I knew there were other programs like this. I did a program just about every summer.

When I graduated from Fairfield, I went to Alabama A&M on a full scholarship. I have two younger siblings and wanted to make sure there was no issue for them scholarship-wise. Now my younger brother, who was always building with Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets is an architectural engineer, and my sister, who was always taking care of anyone who got hurt, is an RN.”

 

5—Dr. Starks’ nephew was the inspiration for STREAM Innovations.

 

 

 

“When I moved back to Birmingham in 2014, my nephew would say ‘auntie is a scientist.’

But one day when he was six, he questioned my credibility as a scientist because he never saw me at the bench; he only saw me at meetings.

So I went and bought a bunch of chemicals and put together a notebook for age appropriate experiments he could do with me. I was there to make sure he didn’t burn himself, but he was allowed to do things wrong. I wanted him to see real science is not perfect.

This turned into the prototype curriculum for STREAM. I pressed on him the importance of imagination, because imagination is a huge part of science.

That same nephew is now engulfed in space. He loves all things NASA, universe, planet.

So when he’s building Spaceships with Legos, I ask him what his spaceship needs to work. We play imaginary games where he has $1 million create what he thinks is necessary to put on the International Space Station. Then I look at it and ask “well, what about this, how will you eject from it, how will it connect to different things” and I send him back to add more pieces.”

6—Imagination is everything in science.

 

 

Dr. Starks is passionate about the importance of imagination, and indulging young people in the thing that sparks their interest. She gets great joy from doing this with her nephew—and now with the young people who are a part of STREAM Innovations.

 

“We start with students in the third grade, because we want to be able to throw a little bit of everything at them. The world they’ll be growing up in will be different. We want to help them be open to new things, to be creative and able to articulate ‘yes, I like this. No, I don’t like engineering (or whatever) and here’s why.’

I want to support kids in finding the things they love to do. The love of that first microscope carried me all the way to grad school and postdoc. That muscle memory I developed as a kid working with microscopes made it second nature to spend hours focusing. I don’t get frustrated, because I have the muscle memory to do the thing I love.”

 

7—STREAM Innovations helps young people think in new ways

 

“I run a nonprofit called STREAM innovations. We add Reading and Art to STEM because we wanted to show students what they could do with those as well. We combine disciplines and passions with whatever’s coming next in our world.

While I definitely try to connect careers to that, I also always try to leave a window open for students to think of things we’ve never seen before, by using technology or know-how of a particular industry to innovate for what we need next.

We intentionally partner with libraries and rec centers in underrepresented and underserved communities. Transportation to get to places like the McWane Center or UAB can be cost prohibitive.”

 

 

Here are some of the topics STREAM Innovations has done:

  • Robotics and tech.
  • Plants and agriculture, germination and hydroponics.
  • How we power our world: solar, wind, water, electricity.
  • How the human body works: where are the organs and what do they do?
  • Bridge building competition.
  • Physics with Lego derby challenges: kids build a lego car and race it multiple times on a 38-foot ramp.

 

This last one really caught my attention because my kids have done the Pinewood Derby at Cub Scouts. What’s cool about the Lego derby challenge is that they get to understand the physics behind why their car is dragging behind or winning, and they can continue to rebuild and race as much as they like. A true scientific process.

 

8—Who teaches at STREAM Innovations?

 

 

“We call our instructors Champions because they serve as a ‘champion’ for their success. We have a mix of volunteers and paid staff. Many are from local companies, and some are individuals who want to support students to learn something new.

We encourage the champions to support with a ‘hands-off’ approach so they have the opportunity to fail safely and delight in the process of figuring out how to get it right.”

 

9—STREAM Innovations runs three key programs.

Library after school programs

  • 3rd-6th graders
  • Open to anyone
  • 3:30-4:30 one afternoon a week
  • In previous years, June, July, August and September
  • STREAM swag for students to take home (microscopes, Legos, cool things to inspire kids to keep learning)

Also, librarians pull books related to the topic and encourage parents and students to check them out.

STREAM Saturdays

  • Saturdays, 9:30AM-1PM
  • In previous years, June, July, August and September
  • $50 fee per student
  • Want to take as many as 100 kids
  • From across Birmingham and Jefferson County
  • Breakfast and lunch provided
  • Yoga for mental and physical health
  • 2-hour round robin to different stations
  • STREAM swag (something connected to the topic)

Kids also get to take home whatever they were working on during their time there.

Previously, these programs operated in Ensley, West End, Inglenook and North Birmingham. STREAM is looking for new communities to serve.

Both the library and rec center programs were funded last year with a grant from UAB’s Community Health Innovation Award.

Coding bootcamps—6 week summer programs

1st year: 

  • Web design, with HTML, CSS, jQuery, JavaScript.
  • Leadership development, financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
  • Friday field trips to local tech companies so they can see what it would look like to potentially work in a company or start your own company.
  • Yoga.

2nd year: 

  • Python.
  • App development.
  • AI via Google AI kits.

3rd year:

  • Computer Hardware repair.
  • Comptia A+ Certification prep

 

The recent 3rd year graduates are eager to start a student-run business building off of their 3 years of computer and tech experience. STREAM Innovations is looking for people who would like to help them with this project.

To get in, rising 7th and 8th graders apply online.

All programs are open to anyone who would like to attend. Coding bootcamps draw kids from public school, private school and homeschoolers. Essays are required with applications to show genuine interest in coding.

STREAM is currently fundraising to run these three programs this year.


If you think STREAM Innovations is as awesome as I do after spending an hour with Dr. Adrienne Starks, and you want to learn more or get involved, we’ve got all the details for you right here:

STREAM Innovations

IF/THEN Initiative

 

 

STREAM Innovations is headquartered at Forge, a fabulous coworking space on the second floor of The Pizitz. Social entrepreneurs like Dr. Adrienne Starks get to create what they love in the company of other movers and shakers in a shared space that’s a cross between a library and a coffee shop. Schedule your tour today.