Virginia nonprofit launches mobile tech education bus for underserved students
Morsa Images via Getty Images
The cyber education bus is the latest way the nonprofit organization RFK Outreach will fulfill its goal to help children and teens learn about technology.
This story was originally published by the Virginia Mercury.
Two retired military cybersecurity experts in Virginia recently launched a bus service in Hampton Roads to raise awareness and educate students about technology, after receiving an unexpected state budget appropriation of $200,000.
The cyber education bus is the latest way the nonprofit organization RFK Outreach will fulfill its goal to help children and teens learn about technology.
Kimberly and Ricardo Frost, the founders of RFK Solutionz Corporation, the umbrella organization for RFK Outreach, said they were surprised to hear about the appropriation requested by House Transportation Committee Chair Cliff Hayes, D-Chesapeake.
For a decade, RFK Outreach has been operating the Cyber Academy, training and developing people who want to build or advance careers in cloud computing, cybersecurity, information technology (IT), networking, and project management.
The couple said around 100 students have joined the academy each summer over the past 10 years.
Now, RFK Outreach will hit the road, offering lessons on tools such as drones and robotics. The state money will go a long way towards fulfilling their youth-focused mission, the Frosts said.
“We were serving active duty in the military, and we still, kind of, feel like serving (but) this time by training children today to have the knowledge and wisdom that they need to be able to protect themselves, their parents, and our nation when it comes to cybersecurity,” Kimberly Frost said.
Ricardo Frost said the STEM Cybersecurity Mobile Bus will also help reach children who cannot come to the Cyber Academy.
“We knew that a lot of people of color are normally in underserved communities or rural areas, so that’s where the cyber bus initiative came from,” Ricardo Frost said. “Since they can’t get to us, we’ll do what we can to get to them.”
Ricardo Frost said the Outreach’s mission also includes developing Virginia’s workforce, a focus that has received strong policy support from the state legislature.
He said state and federal lawmakers, including Virginia Democratic U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, have stressed the need to retain tech talent in the commonwealth. He said RFK’s mission is aligned with those efforts.
“Oftentimes… a lot of the students that learn and get their education from Virginia typically leave the state, so we’re looking at a way to… have those young bright minds stay local,” Ricardo Frost said.
The couple said the cyber academy has typically operated during the summer, but hopes to potentially expand with a bus and a second bus on the way to other areas of the commonwealth.
The group’s partnerships have expanded since its founding, and businesses have started to call after seeing the bus.
Most recently they have partnered with the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, pairing interns from Virginia’s colleges and universities with academy students. The couple said Google has also agreed to sponsor $180,000 to RFK Outreach to support its initiative.
Ricardo Frost said technology is expanding, and the organization’s goal is to raise public awareness among children and adults alike.
“Our goal … is to ensure that we get those people on board and get the awareness up, so they know we’re now in a whole new era than we’ve ever been before, and we want everybody… to be prepared,” Ricardo Frost said.
Hayes, who successfully secured funding in the recently passed budget for the organization’s efforts, said the funds will help address the digital divide in Hampton Roads, and potentially other regions of the state.
“We want to give 100% adoption in all communities, and again, with artificial intelligence, with our massive interests, we want to have these technologies everywhere,” Hayes said. “This digital divide should be closed. There’s no excuse why it shouldn’t be closed in this day and time.”
Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.