Detroit Digital Summit Brings Together 1,000 Students at Michigan Science Center

Bright young minds packed the Michigan Science Center on Thursday. The three-day Detroit Digital Empowerment Summit kicked off with a buzz, drawing a thousand students. Rocket Mortgage backed the event with $175,000 in pitch prizes.

Black Tech Saturdays organized this push to boost access to the tech field. Students tried new gadgets and met successful creators while moving through interactive stations.

"We saw there were youth who needed more programming and support," said Johnnie Turnage, according to WXYZ. Turnage and Alexa Turnage started Black Tech Saturdays in 2023.

Since its start, the group has secured $3 million in funding. Their work spans 1,000 workshops across the country, changing minds about tech industry inclusion. These sessions open doors for fresh talent to get involved in tech.

"Sometimes you have to see it to believe it, and then once that barrier is removed, kids go on to do amazing things," Turnage said.

At the event, Aerial Knight Games CEO Neil Jones shared insights with attendees. His Detroit studio has released five titles across major platforms - Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam.

"When you look around the gaming industry, you don't really see a lot of people who look like me or the games I'm trying to make," Jones said. His work puts Detroit's spirit and characters front and center.

Sixth-grader Aaliyah Beecham from Dixon Educational Learning Academy lit up while talking about the summit. "I like being here, it's really fun. It gives me more experience with technology," she said.

The gathering continued at the Michigan Science Center through Saturday. Young innovators competed for Rocket Mortgage-funded prizes in two pitch contests.