They descended and infiltrated, uncertain about what the future held, but now as the summer ends, the six interns head back to their native planets (aka high schools or new colleges) with new technology and office skills and a greater understanding of city government and the workplace. For Michael Hsi, “It was actually more exciting than I thought it would be.”

The Department of Information Technology (DoIt) made a significant commitment this year to grow its internship program, starting with students from the Technology Access Foundation (TAF) Technical Teens Internship Program. "Hiring interns makes business sense for our department," said Chief Technology Officer Bill Schrier, "It grows our future workforce, supports local talent, and ensures diversity in the information technology sector." The Mayor’s Race and Social Justice Initiative provided new legs for the department’s effort. Students had an opportunity to meet Mayor Nickels and watch him do his monthly “Ask the Mayor” live television program.

The students were deployed throughout DoIT and did tremendous work for the city in a short time. Henry Shi provided troubleshooting at the Service Desk, Henry Ho covered the Data Center, and Cleveland freshman Cassandra Nuezca developed web materials for the Seattle Channel. Michael Chan organized Technology Matching Fund web materials and produced a new photo gallery. Gardenia Vivas, who worked with Michael in the Community Technology Program, helped ESL students at El Centro de La Raza learn about computers and the Internet and she helped develop a new brochure on security for home computer users. In addition to those from TAF, Ismail Adem from the University of Washington and Chris Vincent from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo spent their summer internships working on applications and desktop support. This team of smart students walks away even smarter with new skills, from debugging PERL, FTP, JAVA, scripting and how to run meetings. All the students said they would recommend the Department of Information Technology to future students. We look forward to hosting more interns.

We're pleased to announce that Delia Burke has been promoted to a new permanent position as Technology Matching Fund Manager with the Community Technology Program. In a lean budget time, approval of this position is a valuable affirmation by Mayor Nickels and the City Council of the importance of working to ensure digital equality and access to online government services for all residents.

Delia began here as a temporary employee and was already familiar with many area CTCs from her work here and with Digital Promise. She has already been working with matching fund grantees and providing technical assistance to community organizations. Delia was instrumental in obtaining 3,000 digital cameras for labs and schools and has worked closely on the development of programs and support for the Puget Sound Alliance for Community Technology (PSACT). Delia has street level expertise in matching fund project implementation; she was a VISTA at Digital Promise, coordinating their Technology Matching Fund grant project. She continues as a board member of Digital Promise, serving labs in HUD subsidized housing communities statewide. Delia has also served on the board of the Association for Women in Computing. Prior to arriving in Seattle she worked in the IT industry and holds degrees in economics and French literature from Northwestern University, with time spent teaching in China and studying in Paris.

Those community technology centers that she's worked with already know that Delia brings great fundraising, program and marketing talents to the team as well as enthusiasm and continued commitment to the community technology sector and opportunities for all. Delia can be reached at delia.burke@seattle.gov or (206) 233-2751.

Race and Social Justice Fund, Technical Assistance Workshop
Tuesday, Sept 21
6pm - 7:30pm
Beacon Hill Public Library
2821 Beacon Ave South
More info here.

NPower Free Tech Field Day
Friday, Sept 24th
9am - 1:00am
Welch Plaza Building at 23rd & Jackson
in Seattle's Central Area neighborhood
For more info and to register

Deadlines: October 4 and 29, respectively

The Neighborhood Matching Fund provides money to Seattle neighborhood groups and organizations for a broad array of neighborhood-initiated improvement, organizing or planning projects. The Small and Simple Fund is for projects that request up to $15,000 and that can be completed in six months. The last Small and Simple Matching Fund application due date for 2004 is October 4.

YouthActionNet Awards

Deadline: October 1

Youth Action Net awards small grants to youth leaders and their emerging projects that promote social change and connect youth with local communities throughout the world. These youth-led projects should have clearly defined goals and have potential for growth or further replication. Award recipients will receive $500 and are eligible to participate in an international capacity-building workshop. Individuals ages 18 to 29 with a leadership role in youth-led initiatives that work to create positive change in their communities are eligible to apply.