Genius exists everywhere. What’s lacking is opportunity.
The District doubled down. So did our scholars.
In April 2026, Mayor Bowser and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education awarded more than $2 million in Summer Strong grants to 30 organizations serving over 1,300 young people across the District. OpenWise Learning received $50,000 — more than double our previous award, and the largest grant in our history.
We spent it on the thing that matters most: more expert adults in the room, for longer. Six weeks. Two cohorts. A full teaching team instead of one instructor stretched across a classroom.
The scholars answered. Twenty-four came in; eleven completed the full six-week immersive, and ten stood up at Demo Day to present working machines they built themselves — games in the first three weeks, robots in the last three.
Rated by the District. Twice. Top marks both times.
The DC Office of Out of School Time sends an independent assessor to observe the program each summer. In 2025 they rated OpenWise “Performing.” In 2026, “High Performing.” Both are the top band of the District’s scale, awarded by two different evaluators in two different years — with perfect marks for creating a safe environment each time.
Behind the rating is the part we’re proudest of: in a program built for the children of Wards 7 and 8, every scholar we’ve ever served has attended free of charge.
Anacostia to Nairobi — a diaspora-built model
OpenWise didn’t stay in one place. From 2018 we delivered in Nairobi as well as Washington — nearly 100 scholars across four Kenyan cohorts — running each fall to fit the Kenyan school calendar.
That chapter is paused. Our partnership there wound down in 2024, and the funding environment that supported it closed with USAID in 2025. Our equipment stayed in Kenya, serving young people through a board member’s local programs, and we keep a presence in the region with the intent to return.
We tell it straight because the honest version is the stronger one: a STEM education model built in Anacostia and proven on two continents is something no local program can claim and no competitor can copy.
Be the opportunity
Genius exists everywhere. Opportunity is something people supply. There are three ways to supply it:
- Partner with us — organizations, schools, and funders
- Mentor a scholar — if you work in tech, this is the highest-leverage hour you can give
- Volunteer — classroom support, field trips, and Demo Days