Compton Tech Week opens with mayor, nonprofit and industry partners offering weeklong training

Compton Tech Week opened with remarks from Karen Brandon, CEO of Touch Up, Inc., and Mayor Emma Sheree of Compton, who said the weeklong series will connect local young people with industry leaders and practical training in areas from app development to drones.

Brandon said Touch Up is partnering with the city to focus on underserved groups, including probation youth, students from alternative schools and aged‑out foster youth, and that three‑ to four‑block class days will include live‑streamed sessions and daily hackathons culminating in student project presentations and prizes. "This week is all about changing lives, changing trajectories," Brandon said.

Mayor Emma Sheree said the city’s goal is to build a pipeline into technology careers and ensure Compton youth are not left behind as artificial intelligence and related fields expand. "We want to make sure that our kids in the city of Compton are not left behind," the mayor said, urging instruction in responsible and effective use of technology.

Students and instructors who attended described concrete program benefits. Kennedy Hempill, a student participating through a senior center training program, said she hopes to deepen her understanding of AI and drones and is weighing cybersecurity and programming as career paths. Alexion Peterson said the planned visit to Riot Games and hands‑on game‑development sessions were major draws.

Computer science instructor Mr. Utce said classroom skills such as Python and JavaScript will be applied in hackathons, game design and app‑development sessions so students can create projects for résumés and portfolios. Organizers also named industry contributions: an AI trainer from Disney, augmented‑reality work with Snapchat and cybersecurity sessions linked to Boeing.

Organizers encouraged attendees to use Tech Week as a launching pad into careers and to follow program channels for resources and updates. For more information, organizers provided comptoncity.org and a Tech Week contact email.