CHICAGO (AP) — As a kid, Kevin Fair would take apart his Nintendo console, troubleshoot issues and put it back together again — experiences the Black entrepreneur says represented “a life trajectory changing moment” when he realized the entertainment system was more than a toy.
“I think I was just genuinely inspired by digital technology,” he said.
Motivated by his love for video games, Fair learned to code and fix computers. In 2009, he started I Play Games!, a Chicago-based business that exposes young people of color to a side of video gaming they might not have otherwise known existed.
By channeling students’ enthusiasm for esports — multiplayer competitive video games — schools and businesses like Fair’s aim to prepare them for careers in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, at a time when the fields lack racial diversity.
“These kids were born with digital devices within their hands, and if you give them access, the world is theirs,” said entrepreneur and scholar Jihan Johnston, who founded digital education company Beatbotics with her teenage son, Davon — an avid gamer.