Close to 550 people attended Pi515’s 10th annual Day of Innovation and dinner, said Pi515 founder and executive director Nancy Mwirotsi. The first year, about 100 people came to the event run on a shoestring budget of $500. “That went to food, we learned to make sandwiches ourselves to serve the kids,” Mwirotsi said. The […]
Des Moines nonprofit Pi515 has announced its participation in the Google Code Next Affiliate program, a free computer science education program designed to develop Black, Latinx and Indigenous technology leaders. With funding and resources provided by Google Code Next, Pi515 will integrate the program’s advanced technologies, AI platforms and mentorship opportunities into its initiatives, including its Career Accelerator […]
Pi515 AI Challenge opens door for exploration of new AI tools Pi515’s AI Challenge was an event four years in the making for founder and executive director Nancy Mwirotsi. With the rapid development of new artificial intelligence tools, she wanted to make it easy for high school and college students to learn about the variety […]
Des Moines-based nonprofit Pi515 is hosting the Day of Innovation Youth Tech Conference on April 25 for high school and college-age students as well as parents, educators and tech professionals. The free, daylong event, held at the John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center, will include a keynote address, networking and breakout sessions, each with a different activity geared […]
Des Moines nonprofit Pi515 is holding its third annual Girls’ Entrepreneurship Summit, and applications are open now through March 24 to young girls and women ages 14 to 22. Female entrepreneurs and industry professionals from the community lead classes and mentor participants as they progress through the program. The program will run every Saturday from March 25 to […]
Anyone who knows Pi515 founder and Executive Director Nancy Mwirotsi has probably heard her talk about preparing youths for the workforce of the future. The nonprofit is seeing growth as it gears up for its next year of programming, including expanded curricula and new full-time staff and college interns. Mwirotsi said a “powerful” moment recently was […]
Submitted by Nick Gerhart, PI515 Board Member, Executive Vice President of Homesteaders Life Company Is your company hybrid? Virtual? Face-to-face? A business leader cannot escape this conversation. What is the future of work? What will the office look like? Will there be an office? What about corporate culture that business leaders work so hard to create […]
Pi515 announced Wednesday it has been awarded a multiyear $200,000 Black Women Impact grant from Goldman Sachs’ One Million Black Women initiative. The money is available for any use and will be distributed over two years starting in July, according to a news release. “This multi-year investment will help us scale our efforts in preparing […]
The Pi515 2022 Girls Entrepreneurs Summit concluded last week with the announcement of this year’s pitch competition winner Aerz Johnson, a ninth grade student at Waterloo West High School. “I didn’t really have a plan before this. I don’t even have an idea to be up here,” Johnson said. “I didn’t know how to pitch, […]
Pi515 is one of four finalists in the Kids Tech Summit hosted by national nonprofit Connected Nation and sponsored by AT&T. The competition challenges students to develop ideas using digital skills that directly benefit their community. The Pi515 students competing have focused their project on improving the digital literacy skills of seniors so they can […]