Founder Kevin Horton is making a positive impact on society by engaging youth in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) through gamification.

In 2021, he launched Nomadd Group, a STEM-accredited EdTech and community development social enterprise company.

“I was looking at the digital and generational wealth gap from a more holistic standpoint to help the community,” Horton told AFROTECH. “So kind of meeting the community where they are, because a lot of kids play games, eSports, which eSports and entertainment, that’s under that umbrella. Then you have aerospace and advanced air mobility, which is drones and the future of air travel. Then our third focus is engineering and innovation.”

He continued, “So, I took the concept of gamifying education because of the economic development focus. I know there’s a lot of companies out there doing eSports, but how can we do it differently? What can we add to it? So that’s kind of how that came about, by me wanting to help the community build out different workforce development after-school programs that could actually help communities prosper.”

According to its website, Nomadd Group partners with community-based organizations, school districts, charter schools, and higher education institutions to encourage participation in STEM.

“We are so behind in every stretch of the imagination,” Horton explained. “We don’t get the same access to technology. There’s no representation there. The school-to-prison pipeline is a real thing. We want to eradicate that and let these kids know there’s more options out there to build wealth.”

Nomadd Group launched Project C.A.S.P.E.R. (Communities Accelerating STEM Programs for Economic Recovery) to uphold its efforts in “communities that need them the most.” The accelerator offers STEM courses and learning experiences for students during and after school. Additionally, it features community tech hubs as well as career and technical education programs for the three novel tech industries that Nomadd Group focuses on in order to re-skill workers, provide workforce development, and promote entrepreneurship.

Across the board, Horton says equity remains a top priority for for the company. His ambitions beyond STEM include expanding into economic development.

“Economic development is the focus but we start with educating the people and the youth,” he said.