For four years, DJMP Institute has delivered free, high-quality AI and STEM education to 200+ young people across Chicagoland — entirely without grant revenue. We have proven the model. We have the outcomes. Now we are ready to scale — and we need funding partners to make it happen.
DJMP Institute meets students where they are — whether that means Saturday mornings, after school at their campus, or an intensive summer program. All three formats are active. All three are free to participants.
Year-round Saturday sessions serving 25 students weekly during the academic year. Building the long-term consistency and mentorship relationships that single-event programs cannot. Students return semester after semester — and that continuity is what changes trajectories.
Structured after-school sessions at partner schools — providing hands-on instruction in robotics, programming, and data science by meeting students where they already are. No transportation barrier. No schedule conflict. Just access.
Intensive four-week program running each summer since 2021. Six Learning Labs. 30 students. Grades 4–12. Field trips to research labs and corporate tech campuses every Friday. Gateway to all five program pillars in an immersive, full-day format.
Each delivery format — Saturday Academy, After-School, and Summer Academy — draws from the same five program pillars. Students don't just sample technology. They build expertise across the full spectrum of what drives the modern tech economy.
Students design, build, and program industrial-sized robots through four active US FIRST Robotics teams — three FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) and one FLL (FIRST LEGO League). Competing in Illinois statewide competitions, students develop real-world engineering skills under a mentor with 15 years of FIRST Robotics experience and seven US patents.
4 Teams · FTC & FLL · Illinois Competitions · Honorable MentionStudents learn to think computationally — converting real-world problems into working software. Instruction moves from foundational programming logic through Python and into applied development, equipping students with the skills that underpin every technology career. Students leave with a portfolio of working code they built themselves.
Active · All Grade Levels · Python · Applied DevelopmentStudents are taught to interrogate data, build models, and understand how AI systems work — and how they can fail. In a world where AI is reshaping every industry, DJMP ensures that young people from marginalized communities are builders of AI, not just its subjects. This pillar directly challenges and reshapes the AI culture being created today.
30 Students Trained · NIH-Connected Research OpportunitiesIn partnership with Math Circles of Chicago (MCC) — one of the most respected mathematics enrichment programs in the country — students engage with advanced mathematical reasoning that builds the analytical foundation all technology careers require. Math is the language of computing, and we make sure our students speak it fluently.
MCC Official Hub · All Grade Levels · Advanced ReasoningAs an official Fortinet Academic Partner — one of only 863 worldwide — DJMP Institute is launching free, industry-grade cybersecurity training in April 2026, open to high school students and marginalized adults across Chicagoland. Participants receive hands-on instruction using real Fortinet enterprise equipment, free exam vouchers, and a clear pathway through five levels of Fortinet certification — from foundational knowledge to expert-level credentials that employers worldwide recognize and actively seek. The global cybersecurity workforce gap is nearly 4 million professionals. The communities DJMP serves are ready to fill it.
Launching April 2026 · Free to Participants · Fortinet Certified · 1 of 863 Academic Partners Globally"If you have the ambition, you can go do it. Knowing that you can ease some of that financial pressure — it makes it where you can focus on your studies more."
Most recent 3 years of publicly available College Board demographic data. Overall national pass rate: 67%–68% (2019–2021).
| Student Group | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Gap vs. National |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Black Students |
33% | 31% | 29.7% | −38 pts |
Hispanic Students |
42% | 41% | 40.1% | −28 pts |
White Students |
66% | 65% | 65.3% | +1 pt |
Asian Students |
74% | 74% | 73.6% | +6 pts |
Source: College Board AP CSA demographic data via Computing for Everyone (Dr. Barbara Ericson, University of Michigan). 2019–2021 represent the last three years of publicly available race/ethnicity breakdowns.
After 2021, the College Board stopped releasing race/ethnicity AP data publicly — a decision that drew sharp criticism from researchers and equity advocates who argued it obscured ongoing disparities. The data did not improve. The reporting disappeared. When the organization that controls access to the exam also controls what the public knows about who passes it, the communities most affected lose the evidence they need to demand change.
Black and Hispanic students who do access AP Computer Science are 7–8x more likely to major in CS in college than peers without that exposure. Yet Black, Hispanic, and Native American students remain less likely to attend a high school that even offers foundational computer science — meaning the gap is created by the system, not by students. Source: Code.org 2024 State of CS Education Report
Sources: College Board AP CSA demographic data via Dr. Barbara Ericson, University of Michigan · Computing for Everyone · Code.org 2024 State of CS Education Report · Illinois state data 2020–2021
Technical expertise is the great equalizer of the 21st century. DJMP Institute builds the on-ramp to that equalizer for youth who had every reason to believe it was not available to them.
We target 5th through 12th grade students across Chicagoland — with priority given to low-income and first-generation college students from underserved communities. Our home base is the historic Overton Hygienic Building in Bronzeville, a landmark of Black entrepreneurship and civic excellence.
Our programs run year-round: Summer Academy, Saturday Academy, and after-school mentorship that fosters the long-term relationships data shows are necessary for lasting impact. We do not just expose students to technology. We build their identity as technologists — and then we walk them into the careers and colleges that prove it.
"If you have the ambition, you can go do it. Knowing that you can ease some of that financial pressure — it makes it where you can focus on your studies more."
One of 13 CPS students honored nationally. One of 400 Amazon Future Engineer scholars across the United States. This happened because a program existed that took him seriously before the world did.
Six hands-on Learning Labs. Grades 4–12. Thirty students. Four weeks, Monday through Friday, based in Bronzeville. The curriculum is built. The program is designed. The only thing standing between these students and this summer is funding.
The program is fully designed, budgeted, and ready to deploy. Every dollar has a destination — instructors, TAs, curriculum materials, technology, field trips, and meals. A minimum viable 2-week session can run at $55,000–$65,000.
Aviation Learning Lab — A Partnership Rooted in History. The Aviation Lab is delivered by the Bessie Coleman Aviation All-Stars, led by Gigi Coleman — great-niece of Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license (France, 1921). April 30, 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of her passing. Our program launches in the wake of this milestone — honoring her legacy by putting the next generation in the cockpit.
Students & Families — Limited enrollment · Grades 4–12 · Chicago · Summer 2026
DJMP Institute has designed a 14-month, skills-first cybersecurity workforce pathway that replaces degree barriers with verified technical ability. The program is built. The Fortinet curriculum is in place. The employer partnerships are active. No grant has been applied for specifically to fund DJMP's delivery of this program. We are seeking a funding partner now.
Coalition Building: DJMP Institute, in partnership with Rainbow PUSH Coalition's Push Excel program, has jointly submitted an application to the Advancing Workforce Mobility initiative — bringing DJMP's cybersecurity curriculum and Push Excel's national civil rights platform together to expand equitable access to technology careers. This partnership demonstrates DJMP's commitment to blending institutional resources and scaling impact through nationally recognized organizations.
DJMP Institute is actively seeking a funder to underwrite the full delivery of this cybersecurity workforce training program. The curriculum is complete, the certification pathway is in place, and the community need is documented. This is a fully designed program seeking its first funding partner.
Fund This Program →PathwayAI is DJMP Institute's first autonomous agentic AI system — three AI agents that continuously monitor ten federal databases and automatically connect marginalized Chicagoland residents to federally funded workforce training and economic opportunity. It is a proof of concept that works. And the same autonomous agent architecture that powers PathwayAI also powers the DJMP AI Intelligence Feed — demonstrating that this technology is not theoretical. It is already deployed and running.
DJMP submitted a $1.5M application to the Google.org Impact Challenge in March 2026 to scale PathwayAI to 500,000+ Chicagoland residents and replicate the model in five additional cities. We are awaiting the award announcement. If selected, the Google grant funds the scale deployment. If not, DJMP is actively seeking independent funding partners to deploy PathwayAI at scale — because the need does not wait on any one funder's timeline.
The AI Intelligence Feed you see running across every page of this site is powered by the same autonomous agent architecture as PathwayAI. What you are watching in that ticker is not a demo — it is the proof of concept in live production.
The proof of concept is built and running. The framework is published. The grant is submitted. What scale requires is a committed funding partner — whether that is Google.org or an independent funder who recognizes that this work cannot wait.
Fund PathwayAI Scale →Six Learning Labs. 30 students. Four weeks. Bronzeville. The program is designed and ready. This is the most time-sensitive ask — summer is now.
14-month, skills-first pathway to Fortinet FCP certification. DJMP-designed, STAR-focused, $80K+ career outcomes. Seeking first funding partner.
Autonomous agentic AI already deployed. Google.org grant pending. Independent funding sought to scale to 500K+ residents regardless of grant outcome.
Fund DJMP Institute — and help ensure that the future being built by artificial intelligence is built by all of us. Three programs. Three asks. One mission that has already proven itself.