WELCOME TO SPRINGBOARD INCUBATORS
Our Chief Executive Officer Reflects on 2021
As we emerge from one of the most challenging periods the world has ever seen in 2020, we were all unsure of what 2021 would bring. Saddened for the loved ones lost to COVID-19, and for all our families and friends affected by this unbelievable world tragedy, hope came in 2021. Hope in the form of vaccines and treatments that would combat this deadly enemy. We are so grateful to all frontline and healthcare workers. I believe that a person’s level of gratitude is a direct reflection of their “spiritual condition”.
I was humbled by the generosity shown to us this year. I would like to truly thank our customers, donors and supporters. As a result of your generosity we were able to have a successful 2021. We could not have done it without you! From our SpringBoard Family to your family, Happy Holidays, Best Wishes and Blessings for the New Year.
Dr. Steven C. Lindo, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
SpringBoard Incubators Inc., 50 Clinton Street, Suite 600, Hempstead, NY. 11550
Phone: 516.414.2000 – Website: https://springboardincubators.org/
Our Team Accomplishments for 2021
This morning I looked out the window of the 6th floor from our Innovation Hub in Hempstead. Coffee cup in my left hand, I feel the warm sunrise and see the clear blue sky that brings hope of the new day. I clear my mind so that I can “pen” my 2021 reflections.
I kicked off 2021 by facilitating the 1st ever Innovation Tournament for Hofstra University School of Law and the New York State Bar Association. I am so thankful they put their trust in me. We could not have asked for a better outcome. A phenomenal competition, so successful that I am asked to facilitate it again this year on January 10 & 11th .
We followed that up with workshops for the Town of Hempstead – DOOR. Providing Technology workshops in Entrepreneurship. It was my pleasure. I am always happy to serve residence of a Town we grew up in and love.
March was Women’s history month, and we prepared an impressive panel of Women in Technology that did not disappoint. Our online broadcast spoke to and inspired school children and young ladies across the country. The discourse was relevant, interactive, and inspirational. Special thanks and well done by my SpringBoard Team for pulling this off. It was well organized, we received splendid feedback from audience and participants.
As we continued into the Spring, we welcomed the newly established Hempstead High School Computer Club to SpringBoard’s Innovation Hub. These students learned how to code autonomous Drones, (UAVs), and Sphero Robots. They also participate in several STEM activities in our innovation lab including Raspberry Pi Coding, and 2D Game Development.
In June we partnered with Fashion Brand Sean John and their Marketing Team to run an Innovation Tournament just for Girls! Theme: Social Justice! With participation from 5 different school districts on Long Island our Corporate Judges for the tournament were very impressed with the quality and improvements from the first day to the second day of competition. Congratulations to the winning teams, from Hempstead and Roosevelt Schools. My sincere thanks to our donors, supporters, and sponsors. My special thanks to the Tech Mentors from NYU Langone’s, PSE&G, A wonderful tournament indeed!
My Summer Program concerns were washed away by the loyalty and trust shown to me by our returning customers. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank, SUNY Old Westbury STEP/CSTEP, Farmingdale STEP/CSTEP, The Hispanic Counseling Center of Hempstead, Farmingdale Liberty Partnership Programs, Suffolk Community College Liberty Partnership Programs, and Hempstead My Brother’s Keeper.
Our Summer 2021 STEM workshops and programs taught 90+ students in the following areas:
o Machine Learning & Predictive Analysis
o Prescriptive Analytics & Recommendation Systems
o JumpStart To Investing
o Coding for Data Science
o Google AIY Voice Kits / Co-Drones
o 2D Game Development
STEM Strategy: As you already know, our strategy is to first bring awareness to students and then move them into our pipeline programs for Technology. This year we able to showcase our STEM Awareness workshops with Big Brother Big Sister of Long Island. The workshop focused on an Introduction to Robotics with Sphero’s and Coding circuits in Python. It was a lot of fun for Bigs’ and Littles’ alike. Special thanks to Mark Cox and his team for giving us the opportunity to work with such a great organization.
Our pipeline programs success continued in 2021. A couple of years ago SpringBoard pioneered a new approach for High School Students to earn 3-credits transferable to any college in Information Technologies. Now we are happy to report that at the end of this summer that the number of students from Hempstead High School that earned these college credits from our School-To-College pipeline is now 20+ students. That is a $84,000 return on the investment made by the School District.
New Initiative: We launched a new initiative this summer as well. This is our Television & Film Studio for “behind the scenes professionals” in partnership with Union9 Television in Hempstead. A superb facility that now host and teaches 15 Hempstead High School Students how to be a Production Assistants, Stage, Grip, Lighting, Sound professionals.
The highlight of the year has to be Sandra Bookman! Yes, we were fortunate enough to be on ABC 7 New York, Here and Now, with Sandra Bookman! What an honor, my sincere thanks to Nathan my Public Relations consultant, my staff, the students, Sandra Bookman and her team. My words won’t do it justice, just go to our link under Press and watch the video.
Key Relationships: We maintained key relationship, especially with the United Way of Long Island – Youth Build, and the Hispanic Counseling Center of Hempstead. We also created a new relationship with NYiT ETIC Lab. and Copiague High School. I am excited to report that I could not have asked for a better group of students from Copiague. They are very smart, curious and their level of engagement is through the roof. I cannot wait for the next round of Entrepreneurship and JumpStart to Investing workshops.
Our Data Science Academy: Adding to pipeline programs, we introduced Our Data Science Academy for girls in the Fall! We set the bar high, and they did not disappoint. We meet every month to challenge ourselves to look at real-world data, problems, and social concerns. Well done girls. My special thanks to the Hofstra University Developers Student Club (Google DSC) for supporting this program.
And finally, we closed the year out with a super Healthcare Informatics presentation to Harlem Hospital administrative leaders. I view Healthcare Informatics as the application of Data Science for the purpose of improving care, cost and advancements. Healthcare IT professionals are Technical Specialist with a broad knowledge of healthcare, a deep knowledge of healthcare data and good technology skills. Bringing students into this industry and expanding this capability will be one of our key objectives in 2022.
In all, we served over 200 students and participants this year. This was only possible with your support. Thank you! If you would like to provide additional support to any of these programs above, please follow the Donate Link on our website. All donations are welcomed!
I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks my SpringBoard Team, Staff, Volunteers, Advisory Board and friends. Thank you for believing in our mission and pouring your energy into making 2021 a great year for our customers and beneficiaries.
– Dr. Steven C. Lindo
Technology, Education & Opportunity
We provide Educational Programs delivered as a set of innovative courses, curriculums and workshops with an emphasis on Technology. We teach Robotics, Coding, Data Science, Machine Learning/AI, Cybersecurity and Digital Literacy. We also provide workshops for Entrepreneurship, Mentoring and Business Development.
Our customers are School Districts, Colleges and Universities, Community based Organizations and local Municipalities. We are vendors / providers, bringing our Educational Programs into focus to complement our customers and help them to achieve their goals for their students, members and participants.
As the digital and “knowledge” divide continues to widen so do the skills necessary to be successful in school and career for communities of color, the marginalized and underserved. Our mission is to bridge this digital & knowledge divide and create Pathways to Success in careers, education and workforce.