Benefits of Soft Skills Videos
- Show off the amazing things Hack the Hood youth accomplish.
- Give them a place to celebrate victories (like the video game award) and connect to other movements (like Youth Hub).
- Chronicle youth as they launch their professional careers. Show the diversity of paths to success.
- Connect youth from one cohort to another, across years and across location. Encourage long-term connections to each other through events (competitions, guest speakers, etc.)
- Show progress over time. Have the youth create videos of themselves on day 1 and at key milestones (i.e. weekly) to demonstrate the potential for improvement.
- Recording their thoughts and sharing ideas will help to form and solidify identify as someone interested in Tech.
- Use video stories as a tool to reach out to disconnected youth. Show how the work is fun, you get paid, and leads to an exciting future.
Individual Stories of Growth
Build a platform connects youth to one another, but also to Hack the Hood and to local communities.
- Support interactions between the youth who have graduated from a Hack the Hood program and the others who are creating inspired Tech in their communities.
- Encourage quick video postings where people describe what they are working on/working toward/working for.
- Foster sub-groups of people with common interests, such as video games, helping local businesses, creating art, etc.
Development
- Decide whether to build your own or use a current platform like Twitter, Google Circles, or Reddit.
- Establish a habit by filming short videos during Hack the Hood sessions. Tag them with different interests, skills, locations, etc. to connect them to other videos.
- Capture youth at milestones: first day of college, internships, competitions, etc.
- Fuel the community side by seeking videos from admired Tech activists around the communities where Hack the Hood extends. Mentors, funders, facilitators, artists, entertainers, etc.
- Establish roles within Hack the Hood to keep the community going. E.g. Zakiya to ask thoughtful questions and encourage responses from a variety of people.
- Susan to bring new people in and connect youth to the broader community.
- Inspiring tech professionals post links to articles, comments on videos and draw attention to community projects.
- Youth could share resources, post up things that interested them, celebrate each other, as well as learn how to use social media in a professional way.
How it might look
Points to Consider
- Establish the habit of creating videos during the session so that they can continue the momentum seamlessly after the program.
- Identify strong community moderators and youth leaders to contribute content and facilitate discussion.
- Help youth record “local genius” (in tech) in their lives. Prompt them to see what amazing things they are doing themselves.