beanz Magazine is a project overseen by the Kids Code & Computer Science, Inc nonprofit. While the magazine has been published for over 10 years, since August 2013, and we’ve donated thousands of copies of the magazine during that time, we switched to a nonprofit structure in order to seek grants to help cover production costs so that we can expand our paid subscriptions and subscription donations. We switched to US 501(c)3 status in 2022.
In our first year being managed by a nonprofit, we set up a very simple board of directors with a focus on subscription marketing, non-profit management, and maintaining our STEAM content standards. In late 2023 and certainly 2024, we plan to expand the board to include a finance person, a person with foundation experience, and a development person. We want to ensure our publications accounting matches industry standards and that we approach foundations in an efficient way. Plus we want to start fundraising formally.
Tim Slavin
Founder, Executive Director
Tim is a long-time staff and freelance technical writer for Reuters, DoubleClick, MongoDB, Amelia, and other companies. He enjoys teaching technology skills to normal non-technical people, kids included. He’s played with internet technology since the Well and Usenet before AOL opened the internet to the mob in the mid 1990s. Tim oversees the editorial, design, and business sides of the publication.
Lou Cassetta
Board Member, Subscription Marketing
Lou is a proven marketing leader and strategist with extensive experience in magazine subscription demand generation and audience development, with B2B and consumer companies. He’s held marketing leadership roles at companies such as Reader’s Digest, America Online, Euromoney and Thompson/SourceMedia. Since 2022, Lou and Tim have worked to test marketing programs to drive subscription sales.
Patrice Gans
Board Member, Non-Profit Management
Patrice is the Founder and Executive Director of Random Hacks of Kindness Junior Inc (RHoK Jr.), a nonprofit agency in Connecticut that provides 4th-8th grade students the opportunity to come together as problem solvers and innovators to make the world a better place. RHoK Jr. provides students a venue to focus on using technology to solve real problems for real people. She’s also a former STEAM teacher. Patrice helps Tim understand how to manage a nonprofit.
Jennifer Newell
Board Member, STEAM Content
Jennifer teaches 9th through 12th grade computer science classes at Piedmont High in California. The classes range from introductory through advanced placement computer science. In addition to teaching, she collaborates with her colleagues in the CS department to design projects and select curriculum. She’s also the first writer hired by beanz magazine, in 2015. Jennifer is looking into how study guides can extend what beanz magazine offers teachers.