Video games are the new college

Access to tech and creative industry employment

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

Applying a proven solution to a new issue or sector (using an existing model, tool, resource, strategy, etc. for a new purpose)

We've worked with thousands of independent (indie) game developers since starting our company, Conduit, and have brought them hundreds of thousands of dollars of investment. We also built our own marketing tool to help any game developer create social media videos promoting their games, sharing to millions of viewers. At the same time, our team cares deeply about education, and we volunteer and speak regularly at high schools and colleges about video game education. We've noticed teens, especially in high school, don't see the point of the traditional education system since AI does their homework, and writes their professors' tests. Video games, however, are more technically and creatively advanced than text. AI can't make a high quality video game, and we believe its far enough away where motivated people, i.e. teenagers who grew up on video games, will gravitate to games as their way to build businesses and tell stories for the rest of us.

We want to create an alternate university for teens centered on digital software products like video games, as well as practical business skills like marketing, sales, and finances. Many families can't afford the rising prices of college. College classes are based on outdated content, and can't keep up with the speed of digital tools and technology. We will replicate the "peer network" that college students benefit from, with additional access to mentors, advisors, and investors that college students don't receive unless they hustle it themselves after graduation. The video game community is known for being accepting to people of BIPOC and nonbinary background, and the alt university will embody those values.

LA is historically known for creativity and excelling in entertainment. At the same time, LA County has become one of the most ethnically diverse places in the country, with over 250 languages spoken. We believe an ethnically and identity inclusive alt university, centered on video games and digital entrepreneurship, is the best possible use of LA's unique heritage and current assets. We also live here and grew up in multi-cultural households. Nothing is sadder than walking down the street or going to class where you feel like an outsider and don't belong. We believe teens should be given the tools and the environment to define a creative future, that only they can see and which we can't create for them.