Swaziland RPCV Jennifer Sly works as Community Technology Coordinator
Jennifer Sly
Sheila McKenna
February 28, 2003
ROLE
Community technology coordinator at the Long Island City Community Technology Center, a program of the Jacob Riis Settlement House at 10-25 41st Ave., which celebrated its second anniversary Saturday.
BIOGRAPHY
30; native of Minneapolis; after graduating from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., spent two years in the Peace Corps in Swaziland teaching math to junior and high school students; worked for Honeywell for two years; moved to New York City to study and earned a master's degree in public administration from Columbia University; has been with the center for six months; single, lives in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
IMPACT
"Our center is great because it serves everyone in the community, from kids as young as 5 to seniors, age 105. We have programs for beginners to advanced. It is extremely vital, especially in this community where there really is a 'Digital Divide' and technology becomes even more critical to everyone's daily life. Our mission is to get technology in the hands of the community as a catalyst for change. If you were to take a Microsoft Office class in Manhattan, it could cost you anywhere from $500 to $1,000 depending on the class, but we offer the same class free of charge."
COMMITMENT
"At Honeywell, I was a minority. I was a woman where only about 10 percent were women, so I got involved with programs that would recruit young women into the sciences. I realized that if women were not encouraged to study science and math at an early age, then they most likely wouldn't later on in life. That's why I wanted to work with a range of ages and races, which is what I do now. My mission is to open up that career path to more minorities and women."
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
