NewBoCo receives $10,000 grant from Bayer Fund to support professional development programs

The New Bohemian Innovation Collaborative, Inc. (NewBoCo) has received a $10,000 grant  from Bayer Fund, a philanthropic arm of Bayer in the U.S.

The grant will be used to support NewBoCo’s K-12 Computer Science Professional Development programming and workshops.

To ensure that every school in the state offers computer science, the workshops train current teachers how to teach computer science across PreK-12th grades, increasing access to high-quality computer science education for Iowa students.

“With the generous support of the Bayer Fund, we are able to ensure teachers have continued access to education and ongoing resources and support as they implement new tools within their classroom,” NewBoCo executive director Jill Wilkins said in a release. “One example of this is our Computer Science Professional Development Week, which we host for teachers throughout the state of Iowa. These trainings have contributed to Iowa becoming a leader in the nation in computer science education, and we are excited to be able to continue and expand those efforts thanks to this support.”

The Bayer Fund grant will allow NewBoCo to continue providing professional development opportunities. The educators who attend NewBoCo’s professional development workshops will go on to teach computer science to hundreds of students in their classrooms, and students will have access to computer science education they otherwise may not have had.

And while not every student who learns about computer science will become a software engineer, most careers – from agriculture and advanced manufacturing to finance and health care – benefit from a foundational understanding of working with technology to solve problems.

“Bayer Fund is proud to support NewBoCo and their work to make real, sustainable impacts in their community,” Bayer Fund president Al Mitchell said. “Programs like Computer Science Professional Development inspires future generations for careers in the high-demand STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) field, and we’re proud to provide our support.”

In 2023, Bayer Fund awarded more than $12.1 million to more than 2,300 charitable and nonprofit organizations to help address essential needs in food and nutrition, STEM education and health and wellness. Since 2017, nonprofit organizations across the U.S. have received nearly $90 million from Bayer Fund.

The New Bohemian Innovation Collaborative (NewBoCo) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit located in the heart of Cedar Rapids. The organization is dedicated to making the state of Iowa more resilient to a changing economy by supporting entrepreneurship, innovation, and tech education.

Bayer Fund, a philanthropic arm of Bayer in the U.S., is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the communities where Bayer customers and employees live and work by providing funding for food and nutrition, education, and health and wellness projects.