A kid should not miss robotics camp, math camp, an AI summer lab, or a hackathon because the fee lands at exactly the wrong moment.
That is the plain version of why the BC + AI Youth Access Fund exists.
Not every barrier is dramatic. Sometimes it is a registration fee. Sometimes it is a bus ride. Sometimes it is a parent trying to make the summer work. Sometimes it is a young person who already has the curiosity, the work ethic, and the spark, but needs one small door opened at the right time.
BC + AI is full of adults talking about the future of artificial intelligence. Policy. Infrastructure. Creative industries. Data sovereignty. Workforce transformation. All of that matters.
But the future is also sitting in youth robotics rooms, summer labs, math camps, creative tech workshops, and after-school programs. It is teenagers asking better questions than the panelists. It is kids building machines before they have learned to be intimidated by the word “engineering.” It is a young person realizing that AI is not just something happening to them. It is something they can understand, challenge, and shape.
We have already seen this up close.
This year BC + AI supported youth robotics through the Furious Frogs, FTC Team 26025, a student-led team from Coquitlam that qualified for the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in Houston. They were ranked #1 in Canada, building and programming competition robots against teams from around the world.
That story was not just about one crew and one competition. It was a reminder of what happens when young people get access early: they become builders, not spectators.
The same logic applies across the rest of the youth ecosystem.
Ethọ́s Lab, one of BC + AI's important education partners, is creating hands-on technology, AI, and creative learning spaces with Black and Indigenous youth in Vancouver. Youth summer programs, AI experimentation labs, robotics camps, hackathons, and community learning rooms all sit in the same pattern. They give young people practice, confidence, peers, mentors, and a reason to believe they belong in the future being built around them.
The Youth Access Fund is our small, practical way to help.
The fund can support things like:
- youth scholarships for AI, robotics, math, and creative technology programs;
- access support for partner-led summer camps and labs;
- hackathon or competition participation costs;
- transportation or other small barriers that keep young people out of the room;
- sliding-scale seats for BC + AI learning programs and community events.
The philosophy is simple:
Small, real dollars to the exact places that open doors.
We are not trying to make a giant bureaucracy. We are trying to make sure cost is not the wall.
If you want to help a young person get into the room, you can contribute to the BC + AI Youth Access Fund here.