All just 17 years old – Stesha Simon, Violet Shipp, Aidan Tjon, and Armita Arani are already leading a remarkable change in their community as the founders of New Type Works. Their Non-Profit Organization is dedicated to offering free professional website development services for other Non-Profit Organizations and community organizations. Each website is uniquely tailored to the needs of the organization.
As a 12th grader, with the help of her fellow co-founders, Simon has managed to help build an initiative that has benefited a community of more than 500 contributing members, created over 120 websites for small organizations, and hosted two hackathons with coding workshops.
However, the journey to establishing New Type Works was not easy. It started as a school club, offering their services to other clubs. Realizing their potential, the founders decided to formally transform their club into an official Non-Profit Organization.
“We first started off as a club and started with our local fellow clubs at Logan and seeing how successful we were, we wanted to expand our jurisdiction,” says Simon. After gaining official approval to become a proper Non-Profit Organization, New Type Works began its mission to uplift small organizations, teach communities how to code, and expand its reach.
Beyond website development, New Type Works has created a community of coding enthusiasts through its hackathons. These events not only challenge participants to create captivating websites, but also provide coding workshops that help develop participants’ skills.
“It provided me the opportunity to learn more about UI/UX design,” 2nd-year college student and 1st place winner James Avila said.
For Simon, the motivation behind this Non-Profit Organization comes from her personal experiences. As a former small business owner running a crochet business, she quickly realized the importance of having a website to market her work. However, the cost of creating and maintaining a website was a large barrier.
“Since I was a small business owner, I lacked the access and the funds to do so. As Wix charged $16 per month, that stood as a barrier for me, I soon began to realize many other small organizations in my community also faced the same problem,” Simon said.
This experience ignited her passion to ensure other small organizations wouldn’t face the same hurdles she’s faced.
As Simon prepares to graduate, she remains committed to New Type Works and plans to continue to help lead the Non-Profit Organization even after moving on from Logan. All the founders’ determination and passion for helping others ensure that the voices of small businesses and other Non-Profit Organizations continue to be heard.
With a vision rooted in community service and technological empowerment, the founders are not just high schoolers, but rather changemakers, using their talents to break down barriers and uplift those around them.
“Yes, I would definitely recommend it, especially to those just starting out in front-end development. It’s a great experience to enhance their knowledge and capabilities,” Avila said.
New Type Works assures they will continue making a significant impact in the community, one website at a time.
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