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Council highlights global youth tech center, cites city investment for North Hollywood site
Summary
Councilmembers recognized Tomo/Thumo, an international youth technology education network, and speakers cited city acquisition and Community Development Block Grant funding to open a Tomo center in North Hollywood.
The Los Angeles City Council on Oct. 17 recognized Tomo (also referred to as Thumo/TwoMo in remarks), an international nonprofit that runs free technology learning centers for adolescents, and heard officials describe city funding and partnerships to open a Tomo site in North Hollywood.
Councilmember Nacerian introduced the presentation and called attention to Tomo’s global work training adolescents in coding, AI and creative technology. City staff and Tomo representatives said the program has reached tens of thousands of students worldwide and emphasized the free-entry model for young people ages roughly 12–18.
City staff said the city provided $3,000,000 for acquisition of the North Hollywood site and that an additional $2,500,000 was provided through Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to support the center’s operations and buildout. A separate city official during the presentation said private and philanthropic partners also contributed and that further council investments had been discussed.
Sam Simonion and a co-founder identified as Silva (Sylva) spoke from Tomo about the organization’s origins and its model of student-directed learning, saying students “decide which lesson is theirs” and use tools including coding and AI to create projects. Mary Lou (presented as Tomo leadership) described plans to run the first Los Angeles Tomo in North Hollywood and invited councilmembers and staff to visit the site.
Speakers tied the city support to workforce and equity goals, saying Tomo provides no-cost training and aims to serve lower-income neighborhoods. City staff emphasized cross-department coordination and named multiple funding sources used to bring the program to Los Angeles.
The presentation concluded with a city certificate recognizing Tomo’s work and brief remarks from several councilmembers who praised the program’s global scale and potential local impact.
The council did not take a formal policy vote tied solely to the presentation; remarks and funding amounts were presented during the recognition item.
