A St. Louis technology entrepreneur is betting that learning artificial intelligence and coding shouldn’t require families to spend hundreds of dollars.
Ellie’s FutureMinDs Academy has begun offering technology education to children and adults for $10 per month, founder Jason Allen Henderson toldย The Black Wall Street Times.
The program includes coding, AI literacy, STEM, digital creativity and project-based learning. Its online classroom is available around the clock, while students also receive weekly online or in-person instruction.
Henderson said students who enroll from Aug. 17 through Aug. 21 at 5 p.m. Central will receive their first month free as the academy relaunches its online platform.
The relaunch follows some early growing pains.
Henderson said classes had already started when he discovered technical problems with the student platform.
“During our initial launch, we discovered that parts of the student platform were too buggy for the experience I want families to have,” Henderson told BWST. He said he decided to correct the problems and relaunch the system this week.
The academy’s original media materials described affordability as central to its mission. The organization initially presented itself as a youth initiative focused on giving children access to technology regardless of family income.
But Henderson says his ambitions have already expanded beyond children.
From preschoolers to adults
Ellie’s FutureMinDs Academy currently serves learners from about age 3 through adulthood, according to Henderson.
His long-term goal is to build what he calls a “pre-K-to-career” pathway. That could eventually include career preparation, certifications and other credentials.
Henderson also envisions diploma and degree pathways. However, he stressed those programs would require accreditation and other government or educational approvals the academy does not currently have.
For now, the academy’s in-person Saturday classes will operate at A Willing Vessel Church at 1900 Whittier Street in St. Louis.
Henderson said Pastor Malcolm Brown Sr. has allowed the academy to use the church while it searches for a permanent location.
The academy does not currently have formal partnerships with St. Louis schools, nonprofits or major technology companies, Henderson said.
Instead, he says the organization is pursuing relationships and working toward workforce-development recognition.
Henderson said he and his wife met with Julie Carter of the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development to discuss workforce recognition and the state’s Eligible Training Provider List process.
Carter is director of Missouri’s Office of Workforce Development.
Henderson also said he has met with Cortex to discuss becoming more involved in St. Louis’ innovation ecosystem. He said MediSyncD Technologies is a member of NVIDIA Inception and has participated in the Startup Prize in Louisiana.
He was careful not to characterize those contacts as partnerships.
“When a partnership becomes formal, I will be proud to announce it as a partnership,” Henderson said.
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$10 AI education depends on outside support
Perhaps the biggest question facing Ellie’s FutureMinDs Academy is whether its $10 monthly price can survive as enrollment grows.
Henderson said he has personally financed the academy’s development and operations so far.
Long-term, he expects the model to depend on grants, philanthropy, sponsorships, workforce-development funding, and institutional support.
“I do not want a parent to have to choose between groceries, utilities and giving their child access to coding, artificial intelligence or career preparation,” Henderson said.
The academy has approached potential sponsors, including Mastercard, Henderson said. He emphasized that the company has not been announced as a sponsor.
The affordability question matters because access to technology remains an equity issue as AI becomes increasingly integrated into education and employment.
Missouri has been expanding workforce programs aimed at helping residents obtain skills for emerging careers. In June, the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development announced a goal of serving 100,000 new apprentices by September 2027.
State officials say the initiative is designed to create stronger pathways between education, skills development and employment.
A nurse takes an unconventional route into technology
Henderson doesn’t come from a traditional computer science background.
He said he has worked in health care for more than 20 years as a nurse and taught himself programming while developing technology products.
“I learned by building, solving problems, failing, correcting the failures and continuing forward,” Henderson said.
That experience now influences how he wants students to approach technology.
Through MediSyncD Technologies, Henderson is developing CareCueD, a healthcare technology platform inspired by his nursing experience. He says the system is intended to help long-term care residents communicate needs to caregivers while creating escalation and accountability systems.
For Henderson, projects like that illustrate what he wants students to learn: technology can be used to solve problems affecting real people.
He will initially serve as the academy’s primary instructor and curriculum developer.
Henderson said he will use two AI learning assistants, called Ellie and Domonique 2.0, alongside support from his wife, church leaders and family members.
As the academy grows, Henderson said he wants to recruit teachers and subject-matter experts with expertise beyond his own.
The program remains in an early stage. It has no permanent campus or formal school partnerships, and several elements of Henderson’s broader educational vision would require regulatory approval.
Still, Henderson sees the current $10 classes as the starting point rather than the destination.
“I want a three-year-old to be able to begin discovering and creating,” Henderson said. “I want a teenager to be able to build something real instead of being told to wait until college.”
He also wants adults who believe technology has passed them by to have another opportunity to learn.
“The whole point is to help the kids,” Henderson said. “If we do that correctly, the impact on St. Louis can extend far beyond the classroom.”
