Digital NEST hopes to give young people in Stockton a taste of Silicon Valley

The minds behind nonprofit Digital NEST visited Stockton, the home of their following location, to tell residents about their mission to provide opportunities in tech to young people and learn about the city's needs.

Digital NEST began in Watsonville in 2014 when founder Jacob Martinez decided to take action on the lack of diversity in Silicon Valley tech and his feeling that the youth in smaller California cities outside of the San Francisco Bay Area were being left out.

“I thought to myself, ‘What If I was able to bring Silicon Valley to us? What if I was to invest in our young people the way Silicon Valley invests in their employees?’ Meaning really creative, highly resourced-based spaces and the best technology,” Martinez said last Tuesday during the visit. “We do workforce training. We serve high school to age 24, and everything we do is completely free.”

Nine years and several locations later — Salinas, Gilroy, and soon-to-be Modesto — Martinez and the Digital NEST crew set their sights on Stockton, the largest and most diverse city they've taken on yet. They’re on the “1-yard-line" of securing a location at 417 Main St. in the heart of downtown Stockton. Their mission is to provide underserved youth in California with the skills, resources, and network to build confidence and launch successful careers.

“We do (job) placements as well,” Martinez said. “Four (of our placements) go to San Francisco one day a week. Between the four of them … they keep $550,000 in their community … they’re all making six figures. They’re staying in the community, staying local, and having impact on their family.”

With backings from local community investors, government grants, and tech firms like Netflix, EA, Twitch, Yelp, and Twitter, Digital NEST can offer a safe, collaborative space with top-notch technology for young people interested in developing both soft and hard skills for careers in tech.

Digital NEST's classes include web design, video game development, graphic design, and video and music production. Paid internships are also available, where interns would ideally work for local clients.

“We hire our young people, they work for us, and we work for paid clients,” Martinez said. “We’re looking for some clients from Stockton to provide services for — small businesses, nonprofits. We’ve done work for Martinelli’s, Bank of America … we’ve rebranded the entire Santa Cruz Public Defender’s Office.”

Martinez said he expects the Stockton location to be open sometime this summer or fall. Hours will likely be from 2 p.m. to about sundown — 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. depending on the season.

In the meantime, they’re looking for local talent to lead in Stockton.

“We need your help. Who should be that trusted person in the community that knows, that understands, that’s from here, that gets it to help us lead the work here,” Martinez said. “We’re also hiring a bunch of other positions that allow the person to be anywhere.”

This article originally appeared on The Record: Digital NEST, program for youths in tech careers, coming to Stockton