Foundation for Community Driven Innovation

10/08/2026

10/07/2026

Our ROBOTICON Tampa Bay Manufacturing Month Youth STEM showcase continues this weekend, Oct 10 & 11 with a FIRST Tech Challenge Build & Practice Day for area teams on Saturday and a Foundation Achieve competition on Sunday. Spectator and Educator Info Session tickets are free but advance registration is required. Visit ROBOTICON.net for more information about this weekend's and upcoming events!

09/29/2026

We so enjoyed showing University of South Florida President Moez Limayem and Dr. Eric Eisenberg of the USF Office of Community Engagement & Partnerships around our AMRoCFabLab facility today, sharing our work in the University Area and longtime partnership efforts with USF, from support student internships to collaborative programming. We truly appreciated Dr. Limayem's time and genuine interest and look forward to more great opportunities to work with the University.

09/29/2026

Registration links are live for ROBOTICON competitions and events for FIRST Tech Challenge , FIRST Robotics Competition , REC Foundation Aerial Drone Competition , Robotics Education & Competition Foundation Achieve , volunteer support, and free Guest and Educator Info Session tickets.

Visit the ROBOTICON website at the link in comments to find Quick Links for everything and help us celebrate Manufacturing Day the whole month long!

09/25/2026

This past week we were grateful for invitations to two amazing community partner events: Thursday night, as guests of University of South Florida Office of University Partnerships , we were inspired at the Greater Tampa Bay Area Council, Scouting America Distinguished Citizen Award Dinner, recognizing Peter Collins.

And this morning, we were inspired again by the powerful collaborative work being done at Sulphur Springs PreK-8, with the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA , Tampa Family Health Centers and more.

There is a lot of good, caring community in Tampa and we need to notice, celebrate and support it again and again and again. It's not hard to help. You just need to show up.

09/24/2026

We're pleased to be among this year's Tampa Bay Business Journal Inno Awards Honorees, for Partnership of the Year recognition, for our work with Tampa Bay Community Network -TBCN on our Community Innovation Collaborative initiative.

Nineteen local innovators and companies are being recognized as honorees for the 2026 Tampa Bay Inno Awards, celebrating the talent, creativity and disruptive strategies shaping our region’s tech ecosystem. >> See the full article below ⬇️

09/23/2026

These are two of our favorite photos, courtesy of BluEgg Photography , from last week's Temple Terrace Uptown Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Dinner. The group photo in particular speaks volumes, celebrating CANDO-Caribbean American National Development Organization, Inc.'s recognition as the Chamber's Uptown Nonprofit of the Year, flanked by fellow nominees and community partners, FCDI and Tampa Bay Community Network -TBCN . Beyond the joy of all being nominated for the award, was the joy of knowing that a win for one was a win for all. Congrats CANDO, and we look forward to continued collaborations with everyone!

09/20/2026

We had so much fun at the Temple Terrace Uptown Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards dinner this weekend, where we were honored to be a finalist for Chamber Uptown Nonprofit of the year along with our friends Tampa Bay Community Network -TBCN and CANDO-Caribbean American National Development Organization, Inc. . Huge congratulations to CANDO for being named this year's winning Nonprofit, a well deserved recognition! The whole evening was wonderful!

09/13/2026

What a great turnout at the HCPS-FCDI STEM Center for FTC ROBOT League's 2026-27 FIRST Tech Challenge Kick-Off today! Over 150 students, coaches and families joined together to learn about this year's engineering challenge , and teams, including our own community based FTC Team Duct Tape , hit the ground brainstorming.

Thank you Hillsborough County Public Schools for partnering with FCDI to make the STEM Center possible, and to everyone who came out to support and cheer on local teams.

Visit the link in comments to learn more about FIRST Tech Challenge and how to get involved.