Don't just play on your phone, program it.
President Barack Obama · Computer Science Education Week, 2013The Bolton Foundation is a nonprofit expanding tech access for South Side Chicago youth, starting with hands-on workshops that show kids they can build technology, not just consume it.
Flagship program
Program-It: coding workshops for the next generation of makers.
Free, hands-on workshops for South Side youth. Our first session ran Monday, July 13, 2026 in Hazel Crest, IL, in partnership with Hip-Hop DetoxX.
Youth · Coding · Chicago
Build a real game. Leave with something you made.
Kids walked in never having written a line of code. They left with a working Flappy Bird game they built themselves with Code.org, and the belief that they can build more.
Why this matters
The gap isn't talent. It's access.
Bright, curious kids on Chicago's South Side rarely encounter the same on-ramps into software that their peers elsewhere take for granted. We're changing that, one workshop, one kid, one "I made this" moment at a time.
Workshop in the books
Jul 13, 2026 · Hazel Crest, IL
Always, no strings
No cost to kids or families
Kids leave with a real project
Their code, their game, their portfolio
Partner with us.
We're actively looking for schools, community organizations, and volunteers who want to bring Program-It to more kids across Chicago's South Side. If that's you, say hi.
Email the foundation