Phani Eturu was looking for a way to give back to the Richmond community he’s lived in since 1998. He decided to take the ninja route.
Code Ninjas, that is.
Eturu, who had a lengthy career in IT before taking a leap into entrepreneurialism, is the owner of the Code Ninjas Innsbrook location, located in Glen Allen at 10811 W. Broad St., Ste. 17. The location is part of a national franchise dedicated to teaching kids STEM skills.
Through the Code Ninjas program, children learn coding skills while building video games.
“This is the best way to give back to the community that I’ve been living in for more than two decades,” Eturu said.
Born and raised in India, Eturu came to the United States in 1997, arriving in Richmond the following year. An IT professional, working most recently as a director at the Virginia Department of Social Services, Eturu earned an MBA from the College of William & Mary three years ago.
It was there that a classmate first introduced him to the Code Ninjas concept, and Eturu was quickly hooked. He traveled to the company headquarters in Texas to learn more.
“I liked the enthusiasm the owner had for the company, the reason why they started, and I sort of fell in love with the whole concept,” Eturu said.
At Code Ninjas, kids can follow a game-based curriculum to progressively earn nine belts, similar to martial arts. They publish their own app upon completing the program.
It’s important that more people enter the job market with STEM skills, Eturu said, because those skills are applicable to a diverse range of fields. Not only is he a big believer in the value of a STEM education, he is also enthusiastic about the Code Ninjas approach, which encourages fun and video games to help children ages 7 to 14 grow problem-solving skills.
“While they’re building the games, they are learning programming and coding skills behind the scenes,” he said.
Eturu opened his Code Ninjas location last June, and as the Covid-19 pandemic wanes he said his center is continuing to take health safety precautions. He said he’s looking forward to welcoming more kids as life shifts back to in-person activities.
“We do believe this is the time for kids to have fun back in their life again,” said Eturu, who has a daughter in high school.