Our Mission
Technology Youth Empowerment is committed to providing quality, curiosity-driven STEM education in a world that often prioritizes test scores over true understanding. We create hands-on learning spaces where students feel confident asking questions, exploring ideas, and building knowledge through experience.
Management
Rida Karim
Chief Executive Officer
Rida is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Technology Youth Empowerment. She is studying data science and business, with a strong interest in using technology and data to solve real-world access gaps. Rida oversees partnerships, curriculum development, and organizational operations to ensure TYE delivers impactful, hands-on learning experiences for students. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in project management. Outside of her work, she enjoys playing golf, poker, and time away from screens.
Natalia Campos
Chief Operating Officer
Natalia serves as Chief Operating Officer, overseeing operations to ensure that programs run smoothly and consistently. She plays a key role in coordinating logistics, supporting instructors, and maintaining high-quality execution across all initiatives. Natalia is currently studying early childhood education and aspires to enter the education field, where she hopes to make a long lasting, positive impact on early learners. When she has time, she enjoys baking, crafting, spending time outdoors, and playing cards.
Jack Brady
Interim Chief Financial Officer
Jack serves as Interim Chief Financial Officer for TYE, overseeing financial planning, budgeting, and strategic decision-making to support workshops and organizational growth. He is a student at the University of Virginia planning to major in finance, with strong interests in organizational strategy, operations, and community-focused work. Outside of school, he plays on the UVA Club Baseball Team, enjoys hiking, visiting the beach, and organizing group workouts.
Nate Demile
Chief Technology Officer
Nate leads the technical direction of Technology Youth Empowerment. He designed and built the organization's website from the ground up and continues to manage, maintain, and improve it through ongoing updates and feature enhancements. He oversees and coordinates web developers by distributing tasks, reviewing work, and ensuring technical quality and consistency across all digital platforms. With a strong foundation in full-stack development and systems design, Nate brings both creative problem-solving and technical rigor to every project. He is passionate about building tools that make STEM education more accessible and believes technology should serve people first. Outside of his work with TYE, Nate enjoys track running, studying medicine, and exploring the intersection of software engineering and healthcare innovation.
Mehad Abdi
Regional Coordinator — Northern Virginia
Mehad serves as Regional Coordinator for Northern Virginia, where he manages program logistics, outreach, and team coordination to ensure workshops and events run smoothly. He plays a key role in recruiting volunteers and mentors, building relationships with local schools and community organizations, and maintaining consistent program quality. Mehad is a student at Woodson High School and plans to major in computer science, with a strong interest in using technology for social impact and community development. He is driven by a commitment to making STEM accessible to underrepresented students. In his free time, Mehad enjoys working out, playing board games with friends, and snowboarding.
Twisha
Regional Coordinator — Blacksburg
Twisha serves as Regional Coordinator for the Blacksburg area, where she supports outreach, volunteer recruitment, and program coordination to help ensure workshops and events run smoothly. She works with local schools, students, and community partners to expand access to STEM opportunities and strengthen engagement within the region. Twisha is a student at Virginia Tech double majoring in Statistical Data Science and FinTech and Big Data Analytics, with strong interests in data visualization and quantitative finance. She is passionate about bringing educational and STEM opportunities to underrepresented communities and creating greater accessibility for students. Outside of school, Twisha is involved in club tennis, enjoys reading business books, and spends time watching the IPL.
Vision
A world where every student has the confidence, tools, and access to explore STEM through curiosity-driven learning.
How We Started
Technology Youth Empowerment began after seeing how many students felt excluded from STEM spaces. Too often, learning focused on performance instead of understanding, leaving curiosity behind.
TYE was created to change that. Our founders built programs centered on exploration, questions, and hands-on discovery. By removing cost barriers and lectures, we created spaces where students learn by doing.
Today, TYE reaches students through workshops, mentorship, and take-home kits, remaining rooted in accessibility, curiosity, and student-centered learning.
Our Values
Accessibility
Free, inclusive STEM programming ensuring every student can participate regardless of background or resources.
Curiosity-Driven
Learning powered by exploration, experimentation, and questions rather than memorization or test performance.
Student-Centered
Peer-led environments where students teach, inspire, and grow confidence together.
Our Approach
Three pillars that guide everything we do
01
Curiosity-First Learning
Our Curiosity-First approach revolutionizes how students engage with STEM. Instead of starting with abstract concepts, we begin with real-world challenges that spark natural curiosity. Students explore, experiment, and discover before diving into technical details.
This methodology differs from traditional education by prioritizing questions over answers, exploration over memorization, and understanding over test scores. Students gain confidence through hands-on discovery, leading to deeper learning and genuine enthusiasm for STEM subjects.
The benefits are clear: increased engagement, improved retention, and a lasting love for learning that extends far beyond our workshops.
02
Breaking Down Barriers
We believe cost should never be a barrier to quality education. That's why 100% of our programming is completely free. From workshops to take-home kits, every student has access to the same high-quality STEM education.
Our STEM Without Walls initiative addresses transportation and scheduling barriers by bringing learning directly to students' homes. With interactive kits and peer-led videos, students can learn at their own pace, on their own schedule.
Accessibility is at the core of everything we do. We work to remove every barrier—financial, logistical, or educational—so that every student can discover their potential in STEM.
03
Empowering Through Mentorship
Our student-led instruction model creates a unique learning environment where older students become teachers and role models. This peer-to-peer approach builds confidence, leadership skills, and a supportive community.
Mentors develop teaching skills, deepen their own understanding, and gain valuable leadership experience. Mentees benefit from relatable role models, comfortable learning environments, and peer support that makes STEM accessible and engaging.
This model creates a cycle of empowerment: students who learn become students who teach, building a community of learners who support and inspire each other.