1 OpenStore triples its Wynwood office space With plans for dozens more hires before the end of this year, OpenStore tripled its office space at…
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6 things to know in #MiamiTech: News about OpenStore, Miami EdTech, TravelX, flying cars, Bored Apes and more

Magic Leap announces initiative with local academic organizations to develop our tech talent pipeline
Magic Leap announces initiative with local academic organizations to develop our tech talent pipeline
Plantation-based enterprise augmented reality company Magic Leap today announced a strategic initiative with Florida Atlantic University and three non-profit organizations in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. This initiative, which has already begun and will run for the foreseeable future, will provide young South Floridians with educational opportunities by leveraging Magic Leap’s AR platform and expertise. On top of FAU, the three other participating organizations are Miami EdTech, ReGenerate Tech, and the Crockett Foundation. In an interview with Refresh Miami, Magic Leap VP of Strategic Partnerships Diego Berta explained that the goal is to cultivate the next generation of innovators. “Tech in South Florida has blown up in the last three years, and that’s been amazing. But we will need the right talent to be able to work for these companies and develop the products and solutions that they’ll need. If we have a shortage of intellectual capital, the growth of our local tech scene is very limited.”
Berta, who also sits on the board of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, underscored that Magic Leap cannot build this talent pipeline by itself, but can still make an important contribution. “We are world experts in augmented reality, but we’re not world experts at teaching kids in their early teens coding,” noted Berta. “We strongly believe that through this initiative, we will be able to catalyze each other’s efforts.”
Miami EdTech, a computer science education nonprofit, plans to use Magic Leap’s tech to introduce its K-12 students to spatial computing concepts for real-life applications. The Crockett Foundation, which offers after-school coding programs for middle school students, will integrate Magic Leap’s platform to create an experiential learning environment for its Broward County students. Broward-based ReGenerate Tech plans to use Magic Leap’s tech to expand AR learning opportunities locally. Randall Deich, the Director of Talent Attraction and Education at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance and ReGenerate Tech’s founder and Chief Networking Officer, explained their plans for the initiative in a statement. “ReGenerate Tech is forging new leadership opportunities for students in its career pathways program with Magic Leap’s support,” said Deich. “Our students are learning critical skills and concepts that will be instrumental to the development of the metaverse and other emerging technologies of the future.”
At the core of this initiative is further developing South Florida’s talent pipeline, which has been a critical point of uncertainty for tech firms moving to the area. Going forward, the company plans to continue to provide access to its platform to create more spatial computing education opportunities in the local ecosystem. “At Magic Leap, we deeply believe in using our technology to effect positive change –starting with our home base in South Florida,” Magic Leap CEO Peggy Johnson said in a statement. “Our work with FAU, Miami EdTech, ReGenerate Tech and the Crockett Foundation is critical to the future of our community, particularly as we look to inspire, educate and nurture upcoming generations of technologists in a rapidly growing spatial computing industry.”
Economic development through technology has been a key theme coming out of Broward County throughout the recent tech boom. This year, the Levan Center – a public-private partnership between Nova Southeastern University and Broward County – opened its doors as a self-proclaimed economic and education development engine. The county’s leadership, including Mayor Michael Udine, has been outspokenly pro-tech. And there are a host of innovators working to develop the local tech scene. Through this particular initiative, Magic Leap hopes to increase economic opportunity for South Florida students from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds. “This is not a one-and-done,” said Berta. “This is the beginning of us curating partners in the local ecosystem.”
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In a System Without Much STEM Support for the Most Vulnerable, it’s Up to a Teacher Willing to go a Step Beyond
To Teach His Students, South Florida Teacher Mark Godinez Learned To Code Himself 
Mark Godinez
It was the last day of school before winter break at South Dade Senior High, and students were filtering out. But some stayed behind, buzzing with a different kind of energy. Overnight, they would transform the gym into a field for a robotics competition the next day. The students had been working on the robots since August, said one student, excitedly. One of the school’s classrooms had been given over to space for a huge table where the robots practiced. That the competition and the equipment are here at all is thanks to the students’ teacher, Mark Godinez. A teacher for the past 16 years, Godinez has become increasingly aware that if he doesn’t expose his students to STEM careers, it’s not going to happen at all. Homestead is tantalizingly close to Miami, which is buzzing with new tech energy. But in other ways, it’s an entire universe away. Many of the students in this robotics competition are children of migrants from El Salvador and Mexico who work in agriculture. Some are likely undocumented. So many students never come across tech classes. Without exposure, students wouldn’t be likely to enter a tech field. “They just see whatever they see,” said Godinez. “I want to make sure that they have those options. That’s important for us.”
 Four years ago, Godinez, who teaches game design and digital information during the day, volunteered to learn coding so he could teach it to his students. Now, the program he leads after school and over the summer focuses on reading, writing and coding. Over the last four years, he’s also advocated with the school district for students to get access to technology – now his classroom is filled with dual monitors, 3D printers and VR headsets. The school system has come through with some funding, but that’s only a part of what it takes — the students also raise funds, and “they need somebody like me that networks around the community outside of the school,” he said. “…That’s what keeps me going.”
Connections in the community that have been key, he said. A group called Deaf Kids Code is visiting the district soon to try to get more students with disabilities interested. Some of his high schoolers will enroll in a cybersecurity course at Miami college this semester, thanks to a partnership with the school, Godinez said. “He has really made a lot with nothing,” said Carlos Vazquez, the founder of Miami Edtech and the Miami-Dade County Public Schools STEM vice-chair. “He moves mountains for his kids over there.”
Vazquez noted that Godinez has been able to avoid one trap that talented teachers of color sometimes face within public school systems. “If they’re really good at classroom management, they get pigeonholed.”  In other words, they’re asked to work with troubled students, without getting access to advanced skills training that make any job more satisfying and rewarding. “It’s a vicious cycle on that front.”
Overcoming the Fear
Godinez, who’s also a single dad of two, said he realized the importance of his own presence as a role model. If he could show students that people of color can code, they might be able to picture themselves in those jobs. His fellow teacher, Shawn Waring, who used to teach woodworking at the high school before he shifted to robotics, decided to learn coding so he could teach his students, too. It felt like a leap to both of them. The greatest barrier to learning the language was fear, he said. “I was scared,” Godinez said. “I couldn’t do it alone. So I made networking partnerships within the computer science teacher association in Miami. And that’s why I’m here now.” 
The two learned as they were teaching their students. In the early days, before Godinez had the classroom full of screens and monitors, he used plants to teach coding – starting with a seed and watching it grow. The technology changes every few years, so the fundraising needs are constant. Godinez and other teachers have worked to build a circular program. His robotics students do a lot of outreach, talking to nearby elementary and middle school students about why they joined robotics and how to get involved. He’s especially focused on getting more girls and people with disabilities involved, he said. He’s already seen some impact. When he started the program, he had no girls involved. Now, there’s 22. Not enough, he admits, but still a larger number than most coding competitions. He’s seen the impact it can have. One student, whom Godinez didn’t name for privacy reasons, got into college thanks to her robotics accomplishments. She began the program at the start of high school. Now she’s encouraging other girls to get involved. “Even though she’s leaving, she’s already mentoring other female students,” Godinez said. “So it continues.” 
For more inspiring stories, insights and actionable funding opportunities, subscribe to Times of E’s weekly newsletter, www.timesofe.com/introduction.

In a System Without Much STEM Support for the Most Vulnerable, it’s Up to a Teacher Willing to go a Step Beyond

Editor’s Note: Principal for a Day
A note from our editor, Elizabeth MacBride:
Spring, Carlos Vazquez, the founder of Miami EdTech, sent an email to a bunch of people in the tech community asking them if they’d be interested in being principal for a day at a local high school. Only one person wrote back. That was Randy Raymond, a developer working for Google. And that story – relayed to me and Skyler Rossi on our  recent reporting trip to Miami  — made me curious. So, I met him for breakfast. Vazquez had said Raymond was trying to bring a Google program for high schoolers to Miami, and I wanted to understand what was driving this young Black man who graduated from Harvard in 2018. The answer slowly emerged. The son of two Haitian immigrants, a civil engineer and a nurse, Raymond had grown up in the upper-middle class in Florida. His father had pushed his family up the ladder, earning a graduate degree here in the United States. Raymond’s grandmother was like a third parent to the family, the caregiver while Raymond’s parents worked. And his mother was a connector, wise to the right programs and credentials. As a promising high schooler, Raymond participated in Google’s Computer Science Summer Institute. When he got into Harvard himself, he founded a startup; it felt like the thing to do. But. “I wasn’t solving something that was real,” he said. “I was feeling this emptiness.”
He graduated, got a job at Google, and went to work in New York City. He was making a good salary and having a lot of fun. He loved Google. But still – that nagging sense of something missing. In the pandemic, he shifted to remote work, and then shifted to working remotely from Miami. Last year, his grandmother died. “My grandmother was all about acts of service,” he said. For her, the service included unconditional love for her grandkids — and a lot of food. “If you weren’t eating, something was wrong.”
Raymond said he’d realized that he wanted his life to include acts of service. For him, that meant solving problems that were real, “small” in his verbiage, where he could see the outcome. That wasn’t unlike his grandmother’s acts of service, I pointed out: feeding grandchildren so that they grew up to have a keen awareness of what it’s like to be fulfilled. Raymond is now researching and investigating how he could contribute to helping young people. “I need faith, purpose and meaning,” he said. “I need to find a way to serve that is fulfilling and that is authentic to me.”
That’s why he volunteered to be principal for a day, so he could keep learning how to best contribute. For more inspiring stories, insights and actionable funding opportunities, subscribe to Times of E’s weekly newsletter, www.timesofe.com/introduction.

Editor’s Note: Principal for a Day

Principal for a Day
Spring, Carlos Vazquez, the founder of Miami EdTech, sent an email to a bunch of people in the tech community asking them if they’d be interested in being principal for a day at a local high school. Only one person wrote back. That was Randy Raymond, a developer working for Google. And that story – relayed to me and Skyler Rossi on our  recent reporting trip to Miami  — made me curious. So, I met him for breakfast. Vazquez had said Raymond was trying to bring a Google program for high schoolers to Miami, and I wanted to understand what was driving this young Black man who graduated from Harvard in 2018. The answer slowly emerged. The son of two Haitian immigrants, a civil engineer and a nurse, Raymond had grown up in the upper-middle class in Florida. His father had pushed his family up the ladder, earning a graduate degree here in the United States. Raymond’s grandmother was like a third parent to the family, the caregiver while Raymond’s parents worked. And his mother was a connector, wise to the right programs and credentials. As a promising high schooler, Raymond participated in Google’s Computer Science Summer Institute. When he got into Harvard himself, he founded a startup; it felt like the thing to do. But. “I wasn’t solving something that was real,” he said. “I was feeling this emptiness.”
He graduated, got a job at Google, and went to work in New York City. He was making a good salary and having a lot of fun. He loved Google. But still – that nagging sense of something missing. In the pandemic, he shifted to remote work, and then shifted to working remotely from Miami. Last year, his grandmother died. “My grandmother was all about acts of service,” he said. For her, the service included unconditional love for her grandkids — and a lot of food. “If you weren’t eating, something was wrong.”
Raymond said he’d realized that he wanted his life to include acts of service. For him, that meant solving problems that were real, “small” in his verbiage, where he could see the outcome. That wasn’t unlike his grandmother’s acts of service, I pointed out: feeding grandchildren so that they grew up to have a keen awareness of what it’s like to be fulfilled. Raymond is now researching and investigating how he could contribute to helping young people. “I need faith, purpose and meaning,” he said. “I need to find a way to serve that is fulfilling and that is authentic to me.”
That’s why he volunteered to be principal for a day, so he could keep learning how to best contribute. Times of Entrepreneurship
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David Allen, a best-selling author and time management consultant, developed  The Two-Minute Rule : “If you determine an action can be done in two minutes, you actually should do it right then because it’ll take longer to organize it and review it than it would be to actually finish it the first time you notice it.” This simple idea will ensure that you are productive and efficient every day. Wanderlust : a restaurant or activity from our  Top Ecosystems  list
Scheduled smack dab in the middle of the Dungeness crab season, the  Portland Seafood and Wine Festival  celebrates both the bounty harvested from the Pacific Ocean and the state’s vineyards. The more than 130,000 square feet at the Oregon Convention Center provides plenty of room to explore, eat and drink. Made in the USA
Celebrating 35 years in business,  Womanswork  sets high standards for quality, fit, and style for women’s work gloves. With gloves starting at $44.00, this woman-owned business has a growing community of customers who are described as “Strong Women Building A Gentle World”. Upcoming Opportunities ⭐
To list an opportunity in our newsletter, check out our rates here. We cover the emerging economy of diverse founders:
1. New Opportunities at Opportunity Alabama
Opportunity Alabama (OPAL) is a nonprofit initiative dedicated to connecting investors with investable assets in Alabama’s Opportunity Zone. OPAL is growing and has three new openings. OPAL is looking for qualified applicants experienced in accounting, communications, and commercial real estate. ???? Date: N/A

Weekly Newsletter: Uber And Lyft Spur Entrepreneurship, Seafood And Wine In Portland, And Abigail Disney’s Latest Film

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