TESTIMONY
Quardean Lewis-Allen, Founder and Executive Director of Youth Design Center, on the Need for Support in Youth Design and Technology Education in Brownsville
1:12:36
·
3 min
Quardean Lewis-Allen discusses the challenges and needs of the Youth Design Center in Brownsville for supporting youth in design and technology education.
- Lewis-Allen highlights the center's role as an award-winning, youth-led creative agency employing young people through STEAM education.
- He emphasizes the high demand for arts education and the constraints due to funding and facility rental costs.
- The Youth Design Center offers stipends to students for participating in various design studios, with support from corporations like NBCUniversal, Apple, and Microsoft.
- Lewis-Allen seeks additional support to continue offering stipends and make the programs accessible to more young people.
Quardean Lewis-Allen
1:12:36
Good afternoon.
1:12:38
My name is Claudine Lewis Allen.
1:12:40
I'm grateful to be here.
1:12:42
Speak with you all in the member.
1:12:44
I am the founder and executive director for the youth design center.
1:12:50
Formerly known as Maiden Brownsville.
1:12:52
I am a Brownsville resident born and raised, and I started the organization which is a award winning, nonprofit youth led, creative agency, training and employing young people in design and technology through steam education, to to lower the barriers to design the technology professions, some of which I faced when I was growing up in Brownsville, particularly my my motive interest was architecture.
1:13:25
And in order to study arts, I needed to leave the the community.
1:13:29
I had to go to best direct restoration center for a sculpture class.
1:13:33
Right?
1:13:34
And I think some of the amenities and the services that we offer are going to be integral to the the the space being utilized to its full capacity by our community.
1:13:48
Arts is in demand.
1:13:50
I know that because look at our applications for our creative apprenticeship program in the in graphic design, digital media, and architecture.
1:13:58
And we're not able to service all the young people that we encounter because of of lack of funding and a lot of money going towards us paying rent for the facility that we have on New Lots Avenue.
1:14:12
And I think support around the capital application for this project would really help to reduce those costs to make it free or affordable for us anchor tenants, but also for us to be able to offer continue to offer our programs for free, we type into all of our apprentices.
1:14:33
They get between $60850 for each studio that they take with us.
1:14:38
And so This is yeah.
1:14:41
Really important project for us.
1:14:42
My
Kamillah Hanks
1:14:44
colleagues, do we have any questions for this panel?
Darlene Mealy
1:14:47
I was just could you clarify?
1:14:49
You said your stipends are for 600 to $800?
Quardean Lewis-Allen
1:14:53
Per studio.
1:14:54
Yeah.
1:14:54
600.
1:14:55
They'll have the one of some of our immersive or advanced studios, they they go up to a $1000.
1:15:02
And students are able
Darlene Mealy
1:15:03
to community individuals have paid to utilize.
Quardean Lewis-Allen
1:15:06
We stipend them.
1:15:07
We give them the money.
1:15:08
So we we have support from NBCUniversal and Apple and Microsoft and And we're looking we're seeking support from the member as well to support us for continuing to to stipened students to learn, paying them to be trained in these professions that are in high demand, that we we know in designing technology.
1:15:31
To enter into the creative economy.
Darlene Mealy
1:15:34
Okay.
1:15:35
Thank you.
Quardean Lewis-Allen
1:15:36
You're welcome.
Kamillah Hanks
1:15:37
With there being no more questions for this panel, this witness panel now excused.
1:15:41
Thank you so much.