Jacqelyn Thomas: Building Pathways to Tech Education

The founder of Kids N Technology is equipping the next generation of students to tackle AI

Molly Snow,

AARP

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Published October 01, 2025

When you think of the South, a hub for technology may not be the first thing to come to mind.

Jacquelyn Thomas, 62, is trying to change that. And the best place to start? With the next generation, she says.

That’s why she founded Kids N Technology in 2002: to teach modern digital skills and improve educational outcomes for young people living in underserved communities. The effort started in Tennessee, branched out to North Carolina, and now serves students around the country and even the world.

“The bottom line ... school will not look like it does in 2030 as it does to date,” she says.

As the demand for STEM jobs surges — projected to grow by 23 percent by the end of the decade due to the accelerating influence of AI, according to the McKinsey Global Institute — the need to prepare the next generation for this future has never been more urgent, Thomas says.

What Is the AARP Purpose Prize?

The AARP Purpose Prize honors nonprofit founders age 50 and over who use their life experience to create innovative solutions to challenges people face in their community.

Organizations founded by the winners receive $75,000 and a year of technical support as they expand the scope of their nonprofit's work. This support ensures the continued success of their foundations, with strategies such as succession planning, data evaluation and social media campaigns.

Yet in cities like Memphis, where Kids N Technology is headquartered, systemic barriers and meager school budgets can make digital tools inaccessible. Nearly 1 in 3 children live in poverty — a rate that surpasses both state and national averages.

That’s something Thomas understands firsthand.

Growing up in the small town of Cleveland, Mississippi, her family sent her to private school, even though they struggled financially.

“I used to cry when I couldn't go to school,” she says. “I loved going to school. I love learning. So, that’s how I know that this is what I was born to do.”

Fast-forward to the early 2000s: Thomas realized that she could combine her passion for education with the exciting, fast-paced promise of evolving technology to make other young people fall in love with learning, too. “Kids N Technology is known for teaching real, authentic STEM education,” she says.

Bridging the digital divide

A priority for Thomas is addressing disparities in the education system's approach to digital literacy.

"Although the critical need to equip our youth with technological fluency is universally recognized, the practical delivery of this vital education is frequently limited by the inconsistent flow of public resources, compounded by the varying financial capacity of individual families," she says.

Her nonprofit helps bridge these gaps in two key ways.

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Part of Kids N Technology’s mission is to educate the educators; it provides kits for students and school districts with a range of projects, from beginner-friendly tasks to complex challenges, that develop STEM skills.

“A lot of people do not realize that it lies in the teacher; it lies in the school,” she says. “They're only as good as the skills that the teachers have.”

The other part is getting the tools into students’ hands so they can learn skills. She and her husband began by teaching students to build desktops and laptops before advancing to computer engineering. Now Kids N Technology provides tutoring, summer camps and even scholarships to attend programming. To date, Kids N Technology, one of this year’s AARP Purpose Prize winners, has worked with thousands of students to close digital knowledge gaps. Last school year, 75 percent of participants in the tutoring program improved their test scores by at least one proficiency level.

But make no mistake: This is not your average tutoring session full of multiplication worksheets and memorization drills.

Students are empowered to be creators, not just consumers, of technology. Through hands-on projects like designing AI-generated art, building apps and chatbots, exploring robotics and tackling real-world STEM challenges with mini brush bots, catapults and airplanes, students develop crucial skills in creation, problem-solving and critical thinking.

“We're helping kids understand how technology shapes their world, and how they can shape it for good,” says Thomas. "In an era of rapid AI advancement, we equip students with both the technical skills and ethical understanding necessary to navigate the digital landscape responsibly."

A network of support

Kids N Technology makes an impact in the community, Thomas says. This summer, a few of the program’s students developed a mobile app to help connect Memphis families to free summer programs. And many of the students who graduate from the program come back as volunteers, Thomas says, creating a network of local mentors.

Others go on to take professional jobs in technology, kick-starting a career that, for many, takes years of classic education and hundreds of thousands of dollars of tuition debt they often can’t afford.

Thomas says it’s setting communities up to thrive and meet the demands of a modern world.

“We have to take control and get involved and see what's going on and see what our kids are learning,” she says. “And make sure that they're being prepared. The earlier you jump in, the better.”

The AARP Purpose Prize award supports AARP's mission by honoring extraordinary people age 50 and older who tap into the power of life experience to build a better future for us all. To read more about this year’s winners, click here.

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Molly Snow is a writer for AARP covering advocacy issues and state news. She also writes AARP's Today's Tips podcast. She previously worked at other news outlets, including Federal Times, McClatchy and Gannett.

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