Queen City Robotics Alliance

the queen city robotics alliance (qcra) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 2014. qcra was founded by lia schwinghammer initially as an umbrella fundraising entity for first® teams and events in charlotte, nc. lia has volunteered with first® in various capacities since 2008 and upon arriving in charlotte in 2009 found only a handful of elementary first® teams (first® lego® ), no events and no high school (first® robotics) teams. by bringing coaches and teams together, qcra established the remarkable trendsetting first© zone, garnering national attention from first teams. over the past five years, the efforts and activities of qcra have brought significant growth of teams and events in and around charlotte, nc. today, qcra supports multiple teams and events at all four first® levels. these teams regularly, learn, fund-raise and conduct outreach together making for more successful outcomes.