A new esports center will be on the way for the Los Angeles community.
According to a press release, Riot Games has pledged $2 million to SoLa Impact’s I CAN Foundation. The commitment will support the completion of SoLa’s Technology and Entrepreneurship Center. The center will provide free technology education to the future generation of Black and brown leaders, entrepreneurs, game developers, and more in South Los Angeles. In addition, students will have an opportunity to build career readiness and skills, according to the company’s website.
SoLa’s esports center can be expected to open in early 2022 at SoLa’s Beehive campus. Los Angeles students will have the opportunity to further their lifelong passions with access to “coding, animation, graphic design, digital content creation, esports development, entrepreneurship, and practical life and job skills,” a press release revealed.
“Over the last few years, Riot has made a commitment to increase representation in the gaming industry and provide opportunities to marginalized groups around the world. Our partnership with SoLa Impact and the SoLa I Can Foundation to build this center and gaming arena demonstrates that commitment firsthand,” said Jeffery Burrell, Director of Social Impact, in a press release. “We are thrilled to join forces with SoLa, who has been on the ground successfully pushing to provide technology education and entrepreneurial skills to communities that need it most.”
Riot and SoLa Partner To Close Digital Divide and Combat Poverty
Riot Games’ commitment to SoLa I CAN Foundation will go further than its recent $2 million commitment. Through the partnership, 1,000 students will have access to technology education each year to close the digital divide and combat poverty in Los Angeles.
“We are incredibly inspired and encouraged by the example that Riot Games has set by putting into action their commitment to diversity and inclusion. Thanks to Riot, by this time next year, we will have over 1,000 young Black and brown students who will have the same access to the powerful benefits of technology as their counterparts in more affluent areas—and this is just the beginning,” said Sherri Francois, SoLa Impact’s Chief Impact Officer and Executive Director of the SoLa I CAN Foundation, according to a press release.
Hopefully, as Riot and SoLa continue to support the next generation of leaders, they will in turn secure a career path in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
