Peter Kazikas, CEO of Uncommon.org, which held its first class in a pilot program in October 2017.
Uncommon.org, a nonprofit organization that provides coding and computer science education to children and youth in Zimbabwe, will host a fundraiser in East Hampton on Saturday, July 20th.
Founded by former Amagansett native Peter Kajikas, Uncommon.org began with a pilot program in 2017 providing 20 laptops to youth and has grown into a full-fledged nonprofit serving 5,000 youth.
When Kajikas was in elementary school, he was inspired by Mark Crandall of Amagansett and his nonprofit organization, Hoops for Hope, which works in Zimbabwe. He eventually started volunteering with Crandall and visited Zimbabwe for the first time. “It was an unexpected, life-changing experience,” he said.
Kajikas launched the pilot program in 2017 with 20 laptops at Amagansett School. “The idea was to teach kids to code to unemployed youth,” he says. Soon after the pilot program began, the organization pivoted to training young people for full-time employment in the tech industry. “Now we teach design, software development, marketing, and we incorporate entrepreneurship,” Kajikas says. And students still teach kids to code in the afternoons in an after-school program.
Uncommon.org has become part of many communities by building its own learning infrastructure, “innovation hubs.” These hubs are converted shipping containers fitted with solar panels to provide energy. “We wanted to make it clear to the community that we're here for the long term, and forever,” Kajikas said.
The fundraiser on July 20 will feature a discussion on artificial intelligence. “AI has become a mainstream topic, so we thought it would be really interesting to have some AI experts come in and do a short panel discussion about their work with AI and its impact on humanity,” he said.
Panelists include Sami Ghosh, co-founder and CTO of AI startup Forethought, and Michael Albergo, incoming professor of applied mathematics at Harvard University. Moderators will be Anna Bernacek, global head of thought leadership at State Street, and Dan Mongan, partner at law firm Leech Tishman and chairman and senior managing director at Cumulus Capital Partners.
Kajikas has big plans for the future, hoping Uncommon.org will reach 10,000 kids with its after-school programs this year and double that total from 2023. “We want to expand to every province, introduce teacher training programs, formally introduce computer coding in every school and make Zimbabwe the technology capital of the African continent,” Kajikas said.
The fundraiser will be from 5-7pm at 140 Egypt Lane. Tickets start at $135.23 (including Eventbrite service fees), with discounted ticket options for those interested in the work but unable to purchase full tickets. Tickets can be purchased at bit.ly/3LgjqO2.
