‘The goal is not just surviving.’ CEO of tech-ed nonprofit argues closing the digital divide is part of the Black Lives Matter movement

Across San Mateo County, there are an estimated 9,000 households who don’t have computers or connections to access the Internet.

And nearly half of those households are black or Latinx, according to a press release from StreetCode Academy, a Menlo Park-based nonprofit that provides free community-based classes in coding, entrepreneurship and design to underserved communities of color in Silicon Valley.

In East Palo Alto, the Belle Haven neighborhood of Menlo Park, and North Fair Oaks in unincorporated San Mateo County, there are at least 2,500 households that don’t have an adequate Internet connection, if at all, or a home computer, according to the nonprofit.

To help close the digital divide locally, the academy recently launched a digital inclusion initiative it’s calling the “Level Up Initiative.”

It aims to raise $2.5 million to provide 2,500 laptops, internet and free tech education to community members in in need East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Redwood City. It’s collecting funds and laptop donations.

A little more than two weeks into the campaign, the nonprofit has raised about a quarter of the needed funds, StreetCode Academy CEO Olatunde Sobomehin said in an interview.

Early supporters of the program include the Peery Foundation, Google.org, The Magic Beans, the Franklin & Catherine Johnson Foundation, Concrete Rose, and an anonymous funder.

“StreetCode Academy has been a phenomenal partner and advocate in driving engagement with technology for learners in East Palo Alto and neighboring communities,” said East Palo Alto Mayor Regina Wallace-Jones in a written statement. “I am encouraged by their aspiration to make technology resources and enrichment available to our residents and I am optimistic about our ability to partner with them to unlock the power of hope, will, triumph and resilience.”

Sobomehin said he sees closing the digital divide as a critical part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“The goal is not just surviving. You can’t survive without tech. The goal is thriving,” he said.

There are too many households right now without access to the devices and internet access they need to participate in schooling and society, he said.

But just ensuring everyone has a laptop and Internet access shouldn’t be the goal, he said.

That should be the floor, and the community should be striving for the ceiling instead, he said.

“I think what’s even more inspiring is what the potential is when someone gets the tech that they need, what possibilities open up when you have the right tools, the right access,” he said. “We don’t know what kind of innovators, what kind of executives, what kind of founders, what kind of leaders are going to emerge from us putting the right tools in the right hands.

“In a moment when the inequity that faces black people is being spotlighted and highlighted to the whole world, every person should ask the question, ‘How can we continue to erasing this inequity? What job opening can I push toward overlooked black talent? What resources can I channel toward not just black life survival but black life thriving?’…Let’s live up to the best Silicon Valley we can be.”

Access more information about the initiative here.

Dutch Goose celebrates 60 years as a Silicon Valley ‘melting pot’February 24, 2026 4:47 pm

Charged with child sex abuse, East Palo Alto employee gets character reference from council memberFebruary 23, 2026 2:08 pm

Woodside town manager behind scathing report asked town to buy out his contractFebruary 20, 2026 12:25 pm