21st Century STEM Foundation

I am an engineer and I am passionate about STEM education, outreach, and developing the youth to take the helm of STEM innovation. The 21st Century STEM Foundation has a plethora of amazing programming and the recognition and capital generated by winning this prize will allow us to take our mission further and help more people. 

I have always been a STEM nerd. I wasn’t aware of STEM or Engineering in particular until I got ready to go to college. I missed so much tutelage and instruction on this time that could have changed how I succeeded scholastically and this professionally. I scrapped and scraped to get my degree in Electrical Engineering, and made it my mission to help someone else not go through the way I had too. From binary brackets to building a functional batting cage out of PVC and a leaf blower, the 21st Century STEM Foundation has allowed me to touch lives in ways I never dreamed. I will continue to pursue the mission to help underrepresented youth get exposed to STEM education and careers for the rest of my life. I love this and I am a better person because of it. 

The 21st Century STEM Foundation provides underrepresented youth the opportunity to learn, grow, and explore through STEM Education, Mentorship, and Exposure. Learning about the myriad of opportunities with a STEM background changes their lives for years to come. Our i21 NSBE Jr. Chapter allows our students to be members of an international organization of Engineers. Through the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Students get the opportunity to work on collaborative projects with engineers all over the world, attend regional and national conferences where they learn invaluable skills, and have a great time doing it. Our affiliation with the Atlanta University Center Consortium allows students to build lasting relationships with college scholars which helps as they transition to the next level. Our Cyber 21 program exposes students to the field of cyber security. Working with the governments Cyber Patriot program, students get a vast array of skills in computer science/engineering, build a network of phenomenal government leaders, and learn to speak, present, and field questions from top experts. Our iTECHHustle podcast is a student run podcast that focuses on all things technology. Students develop the show, do the research, conduct the interviews, produce, edit, and deliver the final product. 

There are many different organizations serving the STEM community, but we have found solid programming and young engineers to convey the message in terms that strike the students and helps them understand the information. We delicious new projects and experience ya for each meeting, and rarely repeat an activity. We see our work as innovative because though there are many organizations that attack STEM education, we allow students to be involved in the process as well as have a great time doing it. 

We work with younger STEM Professionals to bring the information to life. Having a smaller age gap between our volunteers/presenters and our students makes the information more real and the goal more attainable. In all of our programs, we give the students the opportunity to be leaders. From hosting a show to president of an executive board, this responsibility allows our students to grow and develop outside of the class room while still am having a great time.