Episode 54 Demetrius Norman - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Demetrius Norman, President and Board Chair for NWLA Makerspace, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:

 

0:30 1. You are a native of Shreveport and graduate of Grambling State University with a BS in Electronic Engineering Technology. You have worked in IT for over a decade with experience in building automation system design, energy management, solar engineering, internet of things, cloud management and you currently serve as a technical consultant in the IT industry.

 

I am so excited to talk to you today because you bring such experience, perspective and breadth of knowledge to the table.

 

Let’s start here. You serve as President and Board Chair for NWLA Makerspace, a nonprofit organization that gives the community access to tools, otherwise too large or expensive for personal ownership. This allows the creative of our community to create, learn, start businesses, or train for jobs using these tools.

 

For those just starting to hear about Makerspace, can you help explain what it is and why it is important?

 

17:43 2. Groups like the NWLA Makerspace, and the workshops that they typically provide to the community are a huge asset in building innovation culture, as well as in providing job training for adults, and Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math engagement for children.

 

My question is - how are we doing in training our technology workforce? Is the size of that population growing locally?

 

Also, talk to me about some of the programs the local schools are offering to teach some of those skills and any other STEAM-based curriculum and efforts locally you would like to highlight.

 

28:01 3. In describing Makerspace, you once said:

 

“We are just as passionate about our true impact on the community beyond just cool technology and crafts, but in our efforts to help underserved communities achieve upward mobility through skill-building workshops and classes, maker faires, micro business startup services, consulting and teacher training for K-12 Schools and so much more.

 

Talk to me about how important it is to you that Makerspace serve our entire community.

 

37:05 4. You are extremely involved in the city and unusually articulate about some of the challenges you see us facing as a community. You once said:

 

“How do you bring somebody from Silicon Valley and say live in Louisiana and go to segregated schools and go to segregated restaurants, right? And don’t speak about social issues that other places talk about openly and work through these things. It makes certain people upset so just act like it’s not happening.”

 

This above quote is from several years ago. From your perspective, are we making progress in the areas you bring up above?

 

55:37 5. You are a major advocate and supporter of our community. In speaking about Leadbelly and the world famous video game Doom, you once said:

 

“We sell ourselves short on a lot of the talents and the great things we have.”

 

From your perspective, why do we sell ourselves short?

 

1:10:59 6. What are some of the things in our community that make you optimistic about our future?