Empowering communities through tech

By Matthew Biddle

“Social workers are needed everywhere,” she asserts. “The lens we bring to roles can change teams. We bring that intentional focus, making sure we are trauma-informed and creating programs that engage the community.”

Over the last three years, Eastlack has brought her unique lens to the technology space, serving as the transition to tech program manager at TechBuffalo, a nonprofit whose mission is to build a more inclusive, accessible and sustainable tech workforce in Western New York. In her role, Eastlack creates programs that reach individuals from “K to gray” — introducing adults to career pathways and training, while inspiring youth to learn computer skills and pursue tech careers in the future.

One of her proudest accomplishments is developing Family Code Night, a program that brings children and their caregivers together to learn about coding and artificial intelligence through activities like Minecraft. Kids can explore their curiosity — and have fun — while their adults can access valuable resources and speak to tech trainers and community partners. The program kicked off with a 15-person pilot in early 2024 and has since reached more than 500 participants.

So how does this work leverage her social work skills?

“Accessibility and inclusiveness are huge,” Eastlack says. “In my programming, I recognize and consider people’s needs. We know it’s a barrier for parents to find child care, so why not create programming that parents and children can do together? We make sure our programming is portable, using laptops so we can go to community centers, churches or libraries — places where people feel comfortable within their community that are already accessible to them.”

Eastlack’s love for connecting with people is what led her to social work in the first place. She enrolled in the School of Social Work’s part-time MSW program in 2017 and says a highlight was her advanced year practicum working at Journey’s End Refugee Services under former CEO Karen Andolina Scott, JD ’09, MSW ’08.

“UB was a fantastic experience,” Eastlack says. “I really enjoyed being a part-time graduate student. Coming from our 9-to-5 jobs, showing up for our night classes, it felt like a tight-knit group, and I appreciated that our professors saw our work as complementary to what we were doing in school.”

After earning her MSW, Eastlack shifted into mental health counseling — and quickly realized micro social work wasn’t for her. From there, she took macro-level roles in program and workforce development, landing at TechBuffalo in December 2022.

“Let your career evolve,” she tells fellow alumni. “Maybe I’ll circle back to therapy, but at the time, I missed the group work I had been doing. Eventually, what we do here could change policy and demonstrate that there should be more computer science education built into the curriculum at a younger age.”

This fall, to build upon the success of Family Code Night, Eastlack will help launch TechBuffalo’s Innovation Fellowship to engage educators in providing opportunities for their students. Twenty teachers from 20 schools will receive training and grants to incorporate tech-based learning in their classroom, run after-school clubs and host Family Code Night for their school, all culminating with a global Minecraft challenge next spring.

Eastlack also hopes to develop apprenticeships with local tech employers to create defined pathways for people into tech careers.

“My goal is for every family in our community to have a family-sustaining wage, and a lot of those roles are within the tech sector,” she says. “Helping adults get into tech or tech-aligned roles can make a difference in what they’re able to provide for their family and help them lift up the next generation. When you inspire an adult, you can inspire the youth in their life too.”