Digital Youth Network

DYN designs learning systems aiming to ensure that all youth, especially the underserved, cultivate the critical skills, literacies and agency necessary to have the opportunity to create lives that are engaged, empowered and successful. 

Established in 2005 on the south side of Chicago, DYN has supported thousands of young people across the city create pathways around their passions. For over a decade, DYN has established itself not only as a critical resource to the city of Chicago but has also established new frameworks for engaging young people that have been replicated nationally in over 20 cities. Founded by Dr. Nichole Pinkard and Akili Lee, the organization has teamed with artists, technologists, educators and researchers to innovate and share best practices around digital media and learning.

Learn More:

• Digital Media Empowers Kids to Create -- and Critique -- on Social Networks (Edutopia)
• Book: The Digital Youth Network (MIT Press)
• How Video Games and Social Media Fuel Students’ Passion for Art (MindShift)
• How Chicago Poet Brother Mike Influenced Noname and Chance (Genius)
• Student Mentors: How 6th and 12th Graders Learn From Each Other (MindShift)
• Mentoring to a New Beat (Chicago Reporter)
• Digital Divas weave STEM into fashion and dance challenges (Chicago Tribune)