Where creativity meets education, and vision meets action.

Building a city-wide STEAM ecosystem across 10 Providence public libraries — designing curriculum, training staff, and credentialing thousands of young makers.

Logo for PYD Young Makers with large orange letters and smaller blue text to the right. Makerspace learning experience logo.

the initiative that changed the city of providence

Providence Young Makers (PVDYM) was a citywide initiative by Mayor Jorge O. Elorza designed to transform public libraries into hubs of creativity, innovation, and workforce development for youth. Through hands-on STEAM programming, mentorship, and paid internships, the program empowered young people to build skills, confidence, and pathways toward future success.

The challenge

Providence is one of the most diverse cities in New England — and one of the most under-resourced when it comes to hands-on STEAM learning. With 65% of students identifying as Latinx and over half coming from homes where English is not the primary language.

Youth in Providence faced a significant opportunity gap: access to advanced technology, digital fabrication tools, and the skilled mentors who could teach them how to use it. Schools alone couldn't close that gap. But libraries could.

PVD Young Makers was born from a simple belief — that every young person in Providence deserved access to the tools, technology, and community to build something real. The City of Providence addressed that gap by investing $650K to create active makerspaces from the ground up across all 10 public libraries.

Logo with a hammer and wrench above the text 'PVD Young Makers' on a black background. Makerspace learning experience logo.

Expanding Access to STEAM, Workforce Development, and Creative Pathways

$650K+

Allocated to create makerspaces in libraries

City of Providence logo

47+

Librarians trained to lead independently

27,350+

Youth visits to library makerspaces

225+

Teen Interns trained and paid

10

Libraries throughout the City of Providence

570+

Badges & micro-credentials awarded

  • Young girl operating a printing press at a workshop with other people watching.
  • A woman operating a sewing machine at a table in a busy indoor setting, with other people in the background.
  • Two women working on a laser cutter in a classroom or workshop. One woman is holding a purple sheet and the other is operating the machine while looking at it.
  • A young woman with dark, curly hair knitting with green yarn in a cozy indoor space, with other people and a shelving area in the background.
  • A young man with curly brown hair, glasses, and a beard peeling a vinyl record at a library or community center.
  • Two women are having a conversation at an event or workshop in front of a presentation board titled 'PASSION PROJECT'. One woman has long dark hair, is wearing a sleeveless white top and has a black bag; the other woman has long blonde hair, is wearing a yellow dress with small embroidered insects, and has a red lanyard with an ID badge.
  • A young person with curly hair and glasses smiling while knitting a blue piece of fabric in a bright indoor space.
  • Group of diverse people gathered in a workshop space, some smiling and making gestures, with a red wall that says 'workshop' behind them
  • A young girl in a white dress receiving a small gift from a man in a gray suit who is crouching down and talking to her at an indoor event with several people in the background.
  • A person with short brown hair wearing a pink t-shirt with black text that reads "Providence Public Library" is sitting at a table assembling a toy kit. In the background, a young girl is also working on a craft project.

Building a City-Wide
Maker Ecosystem
from the Ground Up

How I helped design the learning architecture, credentialing system, and curriculum that transformed 10 Providence public libraries into active STEAM makerspaces — and credentialed thousands of young makers along the way

Download Full Case Study

The full case study is available upon request. Please contact me directly for access.

"PVD Young Makers prepares our kids to be the next generation of makers, designers, creatives, and big thinkers in our city. Our children are creative by nature — by supporting their curiosity, we are supporting their futures."

 — Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, City of Providence