TechMission

TechMission is a Christian non-profit organization located in Dorchester, Massachusetts which aims to use technology to transform vulnerable communities. Its main goals include bridging the digital divide, protecting youth and families from online pornography, matching Christian volunteers with organizations that need them, and training urban ministry workers in ministry management and development through online courses at City Vision College.

TechMission
Founded2000 (2000)
FounderAndrew Sears
68-0492427
Location
Area served
World-wide
MethodOnline Degree, Volunteering, Community development
SubsidiariesCity Vision College
Revenue
$1,529,349
Employees
12
Volunteers
9,995 volunteers
Websitewww.techmission.org

History

TechMission was founded in 2000 as an extension of the ministry of the PREP Computer Center, which was a Dorchester-based computer center run as a partnership between Bruce Wall Ministries and two local churches.[1] Andrew Sears, who was at that time executive director of PREP, and other leaders of Christian community computer centers saw the need for a non-profit which would provide resources to and foster communication between their programs. This was the origin of TechMission's AC4 program (the Association of Christian Community Computer Centers), which now serves over 500 sites, including sites affiliated with the Salvation Army, Christian Community Development Association, and the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions.[2]

TechMission became a separate non-profit entity in 2002.[1] The next year, following the success of the AC4 program, it launched the TechMission Boston Program which provides full-time workers to serve in after-school, teen, and adult technology education programs, as well as providing the curriculum and software benefits of AC4 membership. In 2004, TechMission Boston received AmeriCorps backing which enabled it to expand to Los Angeles. The program, called TechMission Corps, sent out interns to organizations in Boston, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, and Western Massachusetts.[3]

In 2005, a Department of Justice grant enabled TechMission to start its Safe Families Program, which promotes online safety through providing free training and web-filtering software.[4] The TechMission Volunteer Network was launched the following year. In 2007, TechMission introduced UrbanMinistry.org, which is an effort to use Web 2.0 technologies to further promote collaboration and resource-sharing between Christian community development ministries. At the beginning of 2008, TechMission acquired City Vision College. It was founded in 1998 by the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions as "Rescue College". City Vision College is an accredited online institution designed to equip urban ministry workers to manage and develop their ministries[5] Three certificate and degree completion programs are available: Missions, Nonprofit Management and Addiction Studies. In 2013, TechMission Corps was renamed City Vision Internships to expand the program beyond AmeriCorps funding.[6]

City Vision University

Seal of City Vision University

City Vision University is a private online Christian university headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. The original curriculum for the college was developed in 1990 as a joint Urban Ministry degree program offered by Grace University in Omaha, Nebraska and the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM). The AGRM, founded in 1913, is an association based in Colorado Springs, Colorado of over 300 ministries. In 1998, the AGRM established its own distance learning program using these courses and called it Rescue College.[7] The curriculum was later expanded to include the degree completion program: a Bachelor of Arts in Missions with an urban ministry emphasis. The college was accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission in 2005. In January 2008, AGRM transferred ownership of Rescue College to TechMission, and its name was changed to City Vision College.[8] Since then, City Vision has launched an Addiction Studies program (which can be taken in either a degree completion format to earn a Bachelor of Science or as a certificate program) and begun an internship/scholarship program by partnering with North American urban ministries.[9]

Media coverage and case study

In 2013, TechMission and its founder were covered by a Christianity Today article titled "The Tech Poverty Fighter".[10] TechMission was also featured in articles in Religion Today for its involvement in responding to the Boston Marathon Bombing.[11] TechMission was also featured in a nonprofit case study by a group of Northeastern University professors published in the Case Research Journal.[12]

References
  1. http://www.urbanministry.org/techmission-history History of TechMission and AC4
  2. http://www.techmission.org/cms/tm/history TechMission History
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-04-13. Retrieved 2020-05-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. http://www.urbanministry.org/about-techmission-inc About TechMission
  5. http://www.urbanministry.org/city-vision-college-online-training-urban-ministry Announcement of TechMission's Acquisition of City Vision College
  6. http://www.cityvisioninternships.org City Vision Internships Homepage
  7. "City Vision University Catalog" (PDF). Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  8. Sieloff, Susan (2010). "TechMIission: Jesus, Justice, and Technology". Case Research Journal. 30 (2): 25–43.
  9. O'Gorman, Eileen (May 7, 2013). "The Tech Poverty Fighter". Christianity Today.
  10. http://www.christianitytoday.com/thisisourcity/7thcity/tech-poverty-fighter.html?start=1 Christianity Today
  11. http://www.religiontoday.com/news/prayer-key-to-boston-s-recovery.html Religion Today
  12. http://www.urbansermons.org/f/read-techmission-case-study "TechMission: Jesus, Justice and Technology."
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