Code.Tulsa:
Igniting Tech Futures for Native and Black Youth
The Priscilla King Gray (PKG) Public Service Center is developing a new initiative, Code.Tulsa: Igniting Tech Futures for Native and Black Youth. Students will live at the University of Tulsa (TU) over the summer of 2025, interning with Native nations and local nonprofits to support a variety of data science, AI, and coding projects, as well as a STEM bootcamp for Black and Native youth, while learning about the history and confluence of racial, educational, and economic dynamics in the Tulsa region. This program is open to MIT undergraduates only.
Code.Tulsa program applications open on January 27th, and close on February 28th!
Code.Tulsa: Igniting Tech Futures through Social Impact Focus
Health Equity and Access
The Muscogee Nation
Tech for the Public Good
The Cherokee Nation
Education Equity
The Urban Coders Guild
MIT students will help Native and Black communities in Tulsa leverage the benefits of technology to improve community wellbeing, both now–by enhancing tech infrastructure, and in the future–by supporting STEM education for local youth.
Students will serve as full-time, paid summer interns for the Cherokee Nation IT and Muscogee Creek health departments, and for the Urban Coders Guild, a pre-college STEM education program for marginalized youth. Projects will range from the development of a patient data system for the Muscogee’s new health center, and building a Virtual Agent for the Cherokee Nation’s online social service portal, to analyzing educational equity data and designing STEM curricula for the Urban Coders Guild. Program participants will also support a two-week summer coding bootcamp for Black and Native youth at Tulsa University.
Code.Tulsa: Igniting Tech Futures Internship Host Sites – Summer 2025
Urban Coders Guild exists to provide Computer Science education access and opportunities to youth from historically underserved, underrepresented and otherwise under-resourced communities.
The Cherokee Nation is the largest tribe in the United States with more than 450,000 tribal citizens worldwide. The Cherokee Nation is committed to protecting its inherent sovereignty, preserving and promoting Cherokee culture, language and values, and improving the quality of life for the next seven generations of Cherokee Nation citizens.
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is the fourth largest tribe in the U.S. with 100,766 citizens. The government side of the tribe is made up of an executive branch, a legislative body and a tribal court system. MCN is a diverse entity overseeing many facets, such as: cultural tourism, gaming, businesses, and a higher learning institution.
Frequently Asked Questions
Dates & Deadlines
Code.Tulsa applications open on January 27th, and close on February 28th!
The program duration will be from June 2nd, 2025 – August 15th 2025.
Will I be paid?
You will be provided a stipend of $7500 for your participation in the internship and boot camp, as well as provided housing by the University of Tulsa.
Code.Tulsa Boot Camp
Program participants will support a two-week summer coding bootcamp for Black and Native youth on the TU campus, with the option of serving as an instructor, supporting curriculum design, or managing back-end operations.
What are the benefits?
- Our host sites benefit from your technical expertise, and your passion for building a pre-college STEM pipeline for Black and Native youth.
- You benefit from the opportunity to develop real-world technical project implementation skills, while learning firsthand about challenges and strategies to promote STEM opportunities for marginalized communities.
The host sites at a glance
| Host Site | Cherokee Nation | Muscogee Nation | Urban Coders Guild |
| Innovation | X | X | X |
| Interpersonal Skills | X | X | X |
| Address community identified needs | X | X | X |
| Develop research methodology skills | X | X | X |
| Researching community resources | X | X | X |
| Working with specialized populations | X | X | X |
| Research on Native nations of Tulsa | X | X | |
| Direct community outreach and support | X | X | X |
| Developing indigenous-focused resources | X | X | |
| Interactions with indigenous public officials | X | X | |
| Reflect with other change-makers | X | X | X |
| Support health equity and access | X | ||
| Analyze educational equity data | X | ||
| Design STEM curriculum | X | ||
| Leverage AI for equity and access to social services | X | ||
