SPOTLIGHT: Digital Nest

Digital NEST marks 10 years of training the next generation of tech leaders

By Erik Chalhoub

For the season of giving, Jacob Martinez and his team at Digital NEST had an idea: If the nonprofit that provides career skills to youth could garner 100 donations, Martinez would get his first tattoo on his upcoming birthday.

Challenge accepted. Digital NEST quickly netted 120 donations, totaling about $7,500, and on Nov. 23, Martinez got a tattoo of the nonprofit’s logo on his arm, which was livestreamed on social media for all to see.

Such a creative fundraising effort proved effective, with about half of the donations coming from first-time donors, he says.It’s that type of ingenuity that is a critical component of Digital NEST’s mission – as an organization that is deep into the ever-evolving world of technology, such out-of-the-box thinking is required to ensure its students always remain in step with whatever digital advances come their way.

Digital NEST offers technology learning centers for youth ages 14-24, teaching them career skills in the tech space and placing them in jobs in the Silicon Valley and beyond. Launched in Watsonville in 2014, Digital NEST has since expanded to Salinas, Gilroy, Modesto and soon, Stockton.

“We launched with this ambitious, big bold vision that a lot of start-ups have,” says Martinez, the founder and CEO of the nonprofit. “I always thought we’d be in communities all across the state, but I didn’t realize how quickly it would happen for us.”

For Monterey County Gives!, Digital NEST’s Big Idea is to help support the growth of its Salinas center, located downtown at 210 Salinas St. in an historic fire station.

Digital NEST’s in-house digital media agency, bizzNEST, offers young people ages 18-24 paid internships to work at businesses within their communities. For 2024, there are 60 interns, chosen from a pool of 550 applications, resulting in more than $1 million in total salaries.

These interns are ready to work in a variety of jobs – from web development, to marketing, graphic design, IT support and more. But they need businesses to hire them. “When companies are looking for talent to bring in, let’s not look beyond our region,” Martinez says. “We have the talent right here in our community.”