Process
Winners
Finalists
News
Submit
REOPENS FALL 2025
Nominate
ALWAYS OPEN
To all winners
Teaching Free Coding Classes To NYCHA’s Youngest Learners
Portrait of Jason Gibson

Winner

Jason Gibson

Teaching Free Coding Classes To NYCHA’s Youngest Learners
Portrait of Jason Gibson

Website

hoodcodenyc.com

Year

2022

Organization

Hood Code

Sector

Technology & Science

Borough

Queens

Jason, raised in Queensbridge Houses, founded Hood Code to bridge NYC's digital divide, empowering NYCHA youth with free coding education.

Jason believes children deserve every chance to succeed, regardless of zip code and background. Growing up in the Queensbridge Houses, he found that both were strikes against him. Now, as the father of a teenager, Jason is motivated to broaden the…
Read winner story

Publication

AfroTech

While Spending Five Years In Prison, Jason Gibson Conceptualized Hood Code To Better The Outcome For Future Generations

By Samantha Dorisca
October 25, 2022
Jason Gibson is a product of his environment and has chosen to climb the higher ladder to make a difference in his community…
“ALL OF THE ‘SUCCESSFUL’ PEOPLE I KNEW GROWING UP WERE CRIMINALS, DRUG DEALERS AND STICK-UP KIDS.⁠”
Jason Gibson
2022 David Prize Winner

Publication

NYCHA News

Founder of Coding Program for Young NYCHA Residents Intends to Expand Program to all Developments

By NYCHA Staff
December 22, 2022
A former resident of Queensbridge Houses, Jason Gibson, who recently received the prestigious 2022 David Prize for creating and helming Hood Code, a free after-school coding program in NYCHA developments, said that he will us…
“These are the jobs of the future, and Hood Code gives our kids access where there is very little.⁠”
Danielle S.
Parent of a Hood Code Student

Publication

Essence

From Convict To Coder: The Founder of 'Hood Code' Shares How He's Disrupting The School-To-Prison Pipeline Through Tech

By Jasmine Browley
August 25, 2022
Raised by a working-class single mother in the Queensbridge Houses of Queens, New York City, Gibson said he was often surrounded by people who were forced to turn to a life of crime to get by. Growing up, he learned that one…

Publication

CBS News

Hood Code offers computer skills to kids in public housing

By Jessi Mitchell
October 27, 2022
A nonprofit organization teaching computer coding to children living in NYCHA complexes received a major boost to its budget this week…
To all winners