Back in 2012 when the seeds were planted for LA Makerspace, it was still a fairly novel idea. We were the first family friendly makerspace in Los Angeles and we launched one of the first makerspace crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter. People came to our space in downtown LA from all over Southern California because it was the only place like it.
Fast forward three plus years and a lot has changed. There are not only multiple makerspaces in Los Angeles but across the nation.
Last year, President Obama convened Mayors from around the country, and hosted the first-ever White House Maker Faire and issued a call to action that “every company, every college, every community, every citizen joins us as we lift up makers and builders and doers across the country.” By democratizing the tools and skills necessary to design and make just about anything, Maker-related events and activities can inspire more people to pursue careers in design, advanced manufacturing, and the related fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and possibly take their creations to the next level and become entrepreneurs.
In early May of this year, I had the chance to join a conversation at the White House to discuss next steps as part of a Maker Cities Roundtable. I joined twenty communities from around the country in an exciting half-day conversation, where we talked about each other’s successes and challenges, and came away with lots of ideas we should bring back to our communities. We’ve kept the momentum since, and I’m excited by everything going in our community and around the country.
June 12–18th is the Week of Making, and I’m excited to highlight a few things we have already accomplished at LA Makerspace, and what we hope to do in the next year.
- Facilitated more than 100 workshops at LA Public Library branches including robotics, programming, filmmaking, Minecraft and more.
- Brought on a new board of directors with experience in education, nonprofits, tech startups and civic engagement.
- Hired our fabulous director, Mya Stark.
- Kicked off the Scratch Squad thanks in part to Google Rise. Kids teaching kids how to program.
- Partnered with Connected Camps to teach LA Public Librarians how to play Minecraft so they can run Minecraft workshops and clubs in their library branches. Their “Minecraft-in-a-box” allows us to host workshops when the internet bandwidth doesn’t meet requirements.
- Completed our second successful Kickstarter campaign.
What’s next:
- Planning our next series of workshops at LA Public library branches. We’re expanding to teach younger tinkerers and adults.
- Partnering with UCLA Remap to host workshops in their space across from the LA State Historic Park in Downtown LA.
- Writing curriculum for our most popular workshops which we’ll be sharing freely.
- Hosting an event on Sat., June 13th, 1pm at the Standard to meet and brainstorm with other SoCal nonprofit STEAM organizations to discuss how we can create a network to better share resources and events. RSVP on Meetup.com.
I’m proud of the Los Angeles maker community and the mentorship and resources it provides to Angelenos. I’m excited that work being done here in LA and cities across the US is being recognized nationally as vital to the economy and job creation.