EDC Selects Director for YouthLearn Initiative
April 2002
EDC has selected Tony Streit, co-founder of Street-Level Youth Media, an award-winning non-profit arts organization in Chicago, to serve as Senior Project Director for its YouthLearn Initiative.
The YouthLearn Initiative is a project that works with educators and youth development professionals on ways to use technology to create exciting learning environments. As its director, Streit will work to build YouthLearn into a national center of excellence that serves youth development professionals across the country.
A national leader in the fields of youth development and technology, Streit comes to EDC after seven years with Street-Level Youth Media. This organization started as a way to get kids off the street on Chicago's west side, and evolved into a nationally recognized model for information technology access and the media arts with a budget of more than $900,000. Prior to his work with Street-Level Youth Media, Streit trained low-income inner city youth to produce documentary videos about themselves and their neighborhoods for Community Television Network. He began his career as a freelance commercial film editor in Chicago, producing films for such clients as National Geographic and the National Safety Council. Streit currently sits on the board of Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet).
"We are so pleased to have someone with Tony's background join us to help build YouthLearn into a national resource for educators and after-school programs," said Vivian Guilfoy, EDC Vice President and Director of EDC's Center for Education, Employment, and Community. "His experience in Chicago working with young people will be invaluable as we seek to expand YouthLearn and expand the use of technology in community settings and classrooms," Guilfoy said.
