Our client Time Warner Cable has unveiled its 16th Learning Lab inside The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, a New York City-based group that provides vital job training to foster independence and acceptance for all. The Center, founded in 1983, offers the LGBT community health and wellness programs; arts, entertainment and cultural events; and parenthood and family support services. And now it has a TWC-powered Learning Lab to aid its efforts.
(The TWC-branded Learning Lab features new laptop and desktop computers. We love that rainbow Eye & Ear symbol!)
Executive Director Glennda Testone was excited about the new Learning Lab, which features dozens of desktops, laptops and tablets—tools needed to make resumes, conduct job searches, research colleges, create art or keep in touch with colleagues, friends and family. The Center offers a program in which youth members teach senior members how to use computers, and another in which transgendered people can learn resume and job training to help them advance in their careers. “Technology is a part of everything we do and [it] really enhances a community,” Testone said.
Nicole Avallone, Youth Services Director, said the old computer lab at The Center wasn’t meeting its needs. The TWC Learning Lab helps create social connections to make LGBT kids and teens feel less isolated, she said, while also providing access to accurate health information.
Providing a place for LGBT youth to access technology services changes their personal lives, too, Avallone said. The Center offers academic enrichment programming that provides homework help with subject-specific training. The technology allows The Center to enhance career readiness by teaching software, resume writing and interview skills that will help LGBT youth succeed at work, too.
Doubling down on its dedication to educating young people, The Center also announced that it would be launching an LGBT Youth Tech Camp in Summer 2015. The camp will offer opportunities to learn coding, create apps, play games and explore technological careers. According to The Center, LGBT people are underrepresented in tech jobs, which means that few people are serving the community through app creation and coding. The camp and Learning Lab may help bridge that gap.
Juan, a Youth Advisory Board Member at The Center, spoke of his fondness for the Learning Lab. With technological learning available to him, he said he is now internship ready and prepared to work toward his career goal of becoming a social worker. Juan said he is excited to use one of the many new computers to research colleges, majors and financial aid. The Learning Lab will open doors to him that weren’t possible before, he said.
(Left: Executive Director Glennda Testone, Right: Juan, a Youth Advisory Board Member at The Center.)
John Quigley, TWC Regional Vice President of Operations for New York City celebrated with the LGBT Center, noting that the company plans to open a total of 40 Learning Labs in the city through 2020. TWC has a history of providing aid to the LGBT community, having opened a Learning Lab at The Ali Forney Center in May.