The Arkansas Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission partners with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission in Nevada. This partnership bridges the most active commission in the nation (Arkansas) and the world’s largest Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. parade in Las Vegas. The parade in Las Vegas started in 1981 and has attracted commissions from across the nation to Las Vegas for the parade.
As part of the work done in Nevada around the celebration of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a technology summit is held annually to inform freshman through high school seniors about job opportunities. The technology summit was started seven years ago by Duana Malone, known as the Tech Queen.
“We wanted to serve by letting students know about the technology opportunities available,” says Malone. “This was especially important for outreach to go toward students who are in underserved and underrepresented communities. Back then, students did not know about high-tech opportunities, robotics, and other areas. We want to ensure that today’s students know about all available technological opportunities”.
Malone said that when the community started learning about the technology summit, it grew exponentially. One challenge was finding a space large enough to hold it. The Friday summit was held at Las Vegas City Hall in the city council chambers, which was large enough to hold a couple hundred students from area high schools to learn about technology and jobs.
The Arkansas Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission is one of the most active commissions in the nation. Executive Director of the Commission DuShun Scarbrough has been excited about the partnership between Arkansas and Nevada.
“We have one of the largest days of service on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and we participate in over 70 activities statewide through the year,” says Scarbrough. Scarbrough has been grateful for the partnership and says the Technology Summit coming to Arkansas will be a game changer. “Just as this did for Nevada, we are going to do the same thing in Arkansas and positively impact the children in Arkansas.”
More information on the coming Technology Summit in Arkansas can be found by contacting the Arkansas Commission at 888-290-KING.
