Our story

While Renaissance Jax may have been established in 2013, it started long before as a passion and dream. Our Founder and Executive Director, Mark McCombs, always knew he wanted to give back to the community and organization that defined him both personally and professionally - FIRST. Renaissance Jax is humbled by the countless students, coaches and volunteers who have come together to build a community that never stops learning and growing as it prepares for an ever-changing future of Jacksonville and the world.

2003 
Mark Joins Team Resistance

"I got to see first hand the power of manufacturing applications to really do good for people and to help determine positive outcomes."


2007-2012 
Mark studies
at UNF

FIRST skills prepared me for... "opportunities to prove to myself what I did not know that I was made of yet. And that came in the form of student projects and student competitions where I employed all the skills I got on my first robotics team, team no 86 Team Resistance. I was able to employ those skills to drive more students at UNF to compete in student competitions or on teams that were forming."
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2011
Two Inaugural 
Teams Added

The two inaugural Northeast Florida FIRST LEGO League teams to compete started at Jax Beach Elementary thanks to the Perera Family, ShipXpress, and Mark and his Engineering friends from UNF.

2013
Renaissance Jax 
Inc. is founded

"I built Renaissance Jax as a way to try and spread this FIRST robotics program all over North Florida."

"Achieving the goal of turning North Florida into the highest density region for cognitive capital, cognitive capacity, human capabilities that the world has ever known."

2015 
TEDx Talk: Why Every Kid Should Build a Robot

"This has been guided by the desire to turn North Florida into bar none the STEM capital of the world. So I’ve got this vision that is guiding this epic push to build a robotics team in every school."

2020
Where we are now

We've come a long way! From 2 teams to 500 and from 1 county to nearly 30, our impact has reached students of all ages, backgrounds, and locations. 

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Events

(August - February)

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