Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Davis.
Ben, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
From a young age, I was obsessed with building things – a passion that eventually led me to building my own websites in high school. My first project was a website to share my mp3 song collection with friends (this was pre-napster, it was in that legal “grey area”).
Eager to learn, I had found my superpower in coding. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Business Information Systems from Baylor University, my path quickly took me to Dallas, where I dove into full-stack web development working on several digital marketing teams. My experience includes work with large Fortune 50 companies and public institutions, including ExxonMobil, NASA, Rackspace, 7-Eleven, Nokia and the University of Texas Medical Branch. My 18 years of experience in web development has helped me hone my expertise in open-source technologies.
I enjoy coding because I love to create and invent. I take great pride in my work and in the fact that I create things that others find useful. As I built my career in web development and honed my skill, I became increasingly aware of the power software has to change the world, and I wanted to be a part of that.
Later in my career, I found that the more I built, the less I cared about what I was building. Coding became just a way to earn a paycheck. Eventually that original spark, that sheer pleasure of creating something from nothing, was all but gone. It dawned on me that I needed to do something different. I needed to use my superpowers to make that “dent in the universe” everyone keeps talking about.
It was late summer 2014 when I met Robyn Brown, a freelancer working out of a co-working space called The Grove. I’d heard that she was starting a program to teach kids coding, and we became quick friends. I immediately jumped on the chance to participate in a workshop she organized to teach web development to 25 pre-teen Girl Scouts. At that workshop, I witnessed an “aha” moment in a girl who suddenly realized what she could now do. Her mom told me later that her daughter came in thinking that “coding wasn’t for me.” By the end of the workshop she was talking about all sorts of ideas for her new website.
The following week over some gourmet pizza, Robyn shared with me her bold idea. She understood that it wasn’t enough to conduct one-off workshops that taught coding for the sake of coding. For years Robyn has been mentoring Girl Scouts and helping them work as a team to make a big impact in their communities. She wants to build that same foundation of mentoring and teamwork into a long-term program that would empower our community’s youth to be builders of technology. I didn’t need much convincing before I said: “I’m all in. Let’s do this.”
I have made a commitment to Bold Idea and the values it stands for, including community, inspiration and discovery. I believe wholeheartedly in our mission: To develop and empower young minds to execute bold ideas as a team through the power of technology.
In less than a year I went from serving as a one-time volunteer, to a co-founder, to board chair, and eventually to COO. This year my title will change to Director of Education as I focus my efforts on building a high quality curriculum for our students. Bold Idea has grown quite a bit in the past three years. We will be at nine different program sites around the Dallas metro area.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
If this journey had been a smooth road, I would have found another road. This has been the most challenging thing I’ve done in my life, but also the most rewarding and fulfilling.
The biggest challenge for me was the shift from being a freelance web developer to being co-founder and leader within an organization. I had no idea what I was getting into, and had many moments of doubt about my own abilities. I would constantly ask myself: “Am I cut out for this?” or “Am I in over my head?” But my Bold Idea co-founder and I stuck through it, and we learned what we needed to learn to get the job done. You can’t get that with any kind of formal education. You have to go through the struggle to really understand it.
Please tell us about Bold Idea.
There are over half a million jobs that require coding skills today, yet around 50,000 people are graduating with the experience to fill those jobs.
We’ve found that Dallas has an abundance of people like me who are passionate about technology and want to share that passion with the next generation of creators and leaders. Bold Idea gives those people the opportunity to mentor K-12 students who wouldn’t otherwise have access to a quality computer science education. We develop the tools to make the mentor-student interaction as effective as possible, while keeping things fun and engaging for everyone involved.
The thing I’m most proud of is also the thing that sets us apart from others: our community. We have an expanding network of over 100 volunteers, and we have students who have been with us for five semesters. It’s been a joy to see them grow and continue to be excited about what’s next. This year we hope to build that community in areas of Dallas that would benefit from it the most.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I often wonder this. If I could step into a time machine in order to give my past self some advice, I would probably give him so much advice that I’d scare him away from starting a non-profit organization.
One thing I might say is to never be afraid to fail, because failure is the best teacher. But more importantly, take better care of yourself: get plenty of sleep, eat well, and exercise. If you’re not healthy, you simply won’t perform well. Your physical and mental health should always come first.
Contact Info:
- Address: Bold Idea
2904 Floyd Street, Ste A
Dallas, TX 75204 - Website: https://boldidea.org
- Phone: 214-442-1635
- Email: ben@boldidea.org
- Instagram: instagram.com/boldideainc
- Facebook: facebook.com/boldideainc
- Twitter: twitter.com/boldideainc
- Other: linkedin.com/company/bold-idea/
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