Kids know how to use computers for entertainment, but how many, especially from lower-income families, know how to use them for empowerment? WiredWoods was founded in 2000 by Paul and Lori Deninger — he is an investment banker serving high-tech and media companies. Their inspiration was to join the power of computers with the joy of summer camps to catalyze a vehicle for social mobility. They developed a hands-on curriculum, teaching multimedia production in only 15-20 program hours. Students (ages 10-18) work in teams to build web sites to communicate their ideas, having fun while developing work habits and skills valuable to future employers. In three years, 500 at-risk youth have taken the course, and their assessments show that before the course their top three computer activities were web-surfing, video games, and downloading music; afterwards, their favorites were making websites, showing others their websites, and (of course) video games. Given WW’s new-economy management, it minimizes fixed costs by partnering with youth organizations, training teachers and packaging the curriculum “in a box,” on a “flexible franchise” model that is hugely scalable and quantitatively evaluated everywhichway, driving down total cost per student by 80% while multiplying productivity to 15 varied year-round school and after-school sites in 2004. It’s smart, it’s hip, it’s powerful — and you can be, too.