Communities around the country are beginning to recognize the importance of computer science education, but only one city is devoting an entire month to the cause. Chicago City of Learning's Sybil Madison-Boyd joins Cheddar to tell us all about the Windy City's Month of Code initiative. She explains how the program's activities are helping to close the education gap.
Madison-Boyd reveals how coding helps children discover new opportunities and open doors. She gives a rundown of some of the programs and activities keeping families entertained and informed as they learn what she calls, "the language of the future." The director stresses the importance of equal access to education and shares inspiring stories of how children are responding to the program.
It's not Chicago's first time encouraging its youth community to learn to code. Madison-Boyd discusses the decision to expand the week-long initiatives into an entire month. She also gives tips on how other communities can borrow from Chicago's lessons and promote computer science education in their own cities.
Tim Davis, Partner and Executive Managing Director at Steward Partners, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he discusses what activity we could expect to see from the crypto market this week as the Fed decision approaches, the prices of Bitcoin and Ether struggle to find a spark, and the industry continues to digest President Biden's executive order on crypto.
Mission-driven fintech company Propel raised $50 million in a Series B round led by Nyca Partners. Propel's mission is to help low-income Americans improve their financial health. The company's free app is called Providers, designed as a one-stop-shop for Americans to manage government benefits and other income side-by-side. Jimmy Chen, founder and CEO of Propel, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Slingshot Aerospace, a company focused on the future of space sustainability, raised $25 million in its latest Series A funding round. The company's projects will allow commercial, government, and civil satellite operators to share traffic information. Slingshot Aerospace's co-founder and CEO Melanie Stricklan joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to talk about the up-and-coming company.
A Ukrainian drone company is using its technology to help defend its home nation during the ongoing war with Russia. Valerii Iakovenko, co-founder and CEO of DroneUA, joined Cheddar News to discuss its efforts to help against the invasion. "These drones can be used to do strikes more precise and even cheap drones, even simple technologies can help to make a defensive possibilities more precise," he said.
Ford has released its plans to grow its electric vehicle business to Europe — despite a potential lack of full features due to the ongoing chip shortage. Dan Ives, managing director of equity research at Wedbush, joined Cheddar News to talk about the challenges facing the automaker. "I mean for them, it's really a Catch-22 because they can't lose out on demand," he said. "And they're having to make some tough decisions." He noted that Ford's stock is under pressure even as the electric vehicle play is the right long-term decision.
Pete Davidson is heading to space. The “Saturday Night Live” star will be among the six passengers on the next launch of Jeff Bezos' space travel venture, Blue Origin.
Sketchers is yet another retailer to announce its entrance into the realm of the metaverse. The footwear company will be launching virtual clothing as well as an experiential store in Decentraland.
