Become a Bridge Builder — Lead Your City’s Future in 2026.

The San Diego 4.0 Black Innovators Technology Stations will serve as year-round anchors across schools, workplaces, hotels, and malls, giving people a direct window into the talent that has shaped our region and our country. Students will interact with immersive displays that showcase local inventors, thinkers, and builders, so they can see possibility and ambition reflected in their own community. These stations will not be museum pieces. They will be living momentum points that show young people that innovation did not happen somewhere else; it happened right here, created by people who walked the same streets they walk today.

For the local workforce, the stations will operate as a source of pride and a reminder that progress in San Diego has always relied on the contributions of Black innovators who pushed through barriers and opened new paths. When employees walk through a tech station at a partner business, they see themselves as part of a larger story of advancement. It strengthens culture, sharpens purpose, and helps us build the kind of workforce that understands where our future strength comes from.

For visitors and tourists in our hotels and malls, the stations will offer a deeper introduction to our city. Instead of a surface-level visit, they experience the leadership that shaped our industries, our creative economy, and our climb into the next industrial revolution. In a Main Street Smart City, this commitment is not seasonal or symbolic. It is built into our identity. We honor innovators by weaving their achievements into the daily rhythm of the city, so that every person who steps into San Diego sees the excellence that built our future.

Inside a Chula Vista hotel lobby, a quiet glow comes from the Hotel 4.0 Tech Station. The sign on the wall reads “Hotel 4.0 — The Future of Hotels.” Nearby, a simple table holds two VR headsets, a computer monitor, and a small card that reads “Learn about Chula Vista Black Leaders.” It’s more than a tech display — it’s a living tribute. Guests pause between check-in and dinner to step into stories that shaped the city’s spirit.

Through the headsets, they’re transported into immersive worlds honoring teachers, entrepreneurs, and community organizers who helped Chula Vista grow stronger through faith, craft, and courage. Each voice tells of perseverance and progress — from early civil-rights organizers to modern innovators building equity and opportunity.

This Tech Station stands for a place where hospitality connects guests with the community. It transforms the lobby into a meeting point between past and future. By merging storytelling and technology, it invites travelers to reflect on how local leadership shapes national progress.

Here, technology amplifies history. Every headset click becomes a powerful story to bridge generations. In celebrating Black History through innovation, Chula Vista reminds the world that the future of hotels isn’t just digital; it’s deeply human.

The San Diego 4.0 Black Innovators Technology project gives Main Street a sharper way to rethink its connection to the past. It turns historical knowledge into a living experience accessible to residents and visitors anywhere in the city. Instead of history remaining locked away in books or museums, this project uses interactive AR campaigns to place stories, leaders, and breakthroughs directly in the places people already visit. It allows a modern Main Street to learn from the strength, creativity, and resilience of Black innovators who helped shape the region. Their progress serves as a guide for how our communities can find direction in the next era of change.

Our AR campaign works with participating hotels, retail malls, restaurants, and gas stations across San Diego County. A visitor could stand in the lobby of a partner hotel and activate an AR story that reveals how Black entrepreneurs built early commerce networks. A family could walk through a retail mall and see digital displays that uncover the lives of historic Black community builders who influenced modern education, music, and technology. A resident could stop at a restaurant or gas station and scan a marker to access an immersive story about Black engineers and civic leaders who helped shape the county we know today. Each activation creates a touchpoint that strengthens a Main Street identity built on progress and shared responsibility.

Your support accelerates the work of turning history into a valuable city asset that builds pride. The Black Innovators project shows residents that the foundation of a strong Main Street begins with acknowledging the contributions that shaped its earliest momentum. By investing in this work, you help the region carry forward stories that strengthen community leadership and prepare San Diego for the arrival of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.