Boys and Girls Clubs prepare Pittsburgh teens for their futures

Pittsburgh Business Times- The Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania has established itself as a leader in equipping teens across the region for their futures through its various Teen Workforce Pathways programs.

One of the success stories of the Pathways program is Hamari Pope, who is an instructor for the Boys and Girls Clubs’ Artificial Intelligence Pathways Institute (AIPI) and a former graduate of the Teen Pathways program. Pope said she is expecting to attend Norfolk State University to study cybersecurity this upcoming fall.

cording to Pope, AIPI, which the Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania first launched in 2019 and which has included tech and industry partners such as Carnegie Mellon University, NVIDIA, PPG Industries Inc. and the PPG Foundation, has prepared her for college and whatever else comes her way in the future. Pope specifically recalled an AIPI project showcase organized by PPG in downtown Pittsburgh that she recently participated in.

“When we went to PPG and did the contest, competing on a higher level, you really have to have an understanding of what you’re doing, know about it, be able to explain it, and be able to show that you know what you’re talking about,” Pope said. “So that’s how it helped me, because our instructor last year explained it to us. He showed us the steps, and then we had to be able to explain to anybody who asked us what we were doing, what our project was, how to explain it and how to understand it.”

This year’s AIPI program has just started, but as an instructor, Pope explained that participants do debates, mock scenario discussions and use AI to produce various types of products. The AIPI program is a three-week long summer camp. Pope noted that the program also includes a $500 stipend for participants.

Bhaskar Ramachandran, PPG’s global vice president and chief information officer, emphasized the importance of exposing young teens to AI and the role that it’s already playing in the world.

He added that it’s also important to instill a passion for learning on students.

“The earlier you impart the passion, it stays with them throughout their lives and certainly throughout the rest of their education and careers, and that’s why the earlier the better,” Ramachandran said.

AIPI is not the only Pathway program. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania, based in Lawrenceville but with clubhouses located throughout the region, also offers programs in robotics, law, youth and advocacy, influencing, arts and culture, sports management, and architecture and design.

Layal Kusti, a local student who is going into her sophomore year at Winchester Thurston School, completed the Legal and Law Pathways program. Kusti said she hopes to go to law school one day and that participating in the Pathways program provided her with the opportunity to interact with people in the legal field, like Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Nicola Henry-Taylor.

“Sometimes, schools don’t have clubs where they can do that, or anything that can really help students and boost them into what careers they want to go to,” Kusti said. “I think this really helped (me) with that and can help more students with that.”

Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania CEO Chris Watts said the Pathway programs can provide unlimited opportunities for teens throughout the region. He noted that they’re also working closely with industry partners to learn what could be essential skills to include in the programs.