Submitted

Last Updated June 5, 2023

Gender Equity in STEM Challenge

GoGira: A School and Career Counselor for Everyone

Team Leader

Cheryl De La Vega

Solution Overview

What is the name of your organization?

Shyres SCR Inc

What is the name of your solution?

GoGira: A School and Career Counselor for Everyone

Provide a one-line summary of your solution.

Bridges K-12 STEM Education to Careers, Trades, and Colleges. Answers the "Why do I need to learn this?" by inspiring female students, ages 13-21 to explore careers and post-secondary in an engaging and reflective multimedia experience. Results in a portfolio of assessed interests.

Film your elevator pitch.

What specific problem are you solving?

GoGira, a virtual career and higher education counselor (for all students ages 13+) is addressing a multifaceted challenge that involves insufficient career and higher education support and counseling to provide early and comprehensive exposure to career and college opportunities.

1. Insufficient Career Counseling: Most public schools have a high student-to-counselor ratio. Counselors are often overworked serving hundreds of students and unable to provide personalized attention to each adolescent in need of evaluating their values, interests, strengths, and abilities.

2. Lack of Early Exposure and Limited Knowledge of Career Pathways, Financial Aid, and Return on Education Investment: Many secondary students at public schools aren't aware of the variety of options available to them and how their future careers will yield the lifestyle they value. This could include vocational training, community colleges, 4-year colleges and universities, apprenticeships, corporate partnerships, and financial needs.

3. Inadequate Preparation: Academic readiness for higher education is a significant issue, especially in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects. Many students graduate high school underprepared for college-level work, especially in these disciplines.

4. Socioeconomic and Cultural Barriers: include students from low or middle-income families who do not have access to private and personal career and college admissions counselors; first-generation youth in their family to attend college or trade schools; and students who face unique cultural challenges in accessing and understanding the pathways to college and career readiness.

This results in secondary students (ages 13+) not receiving the critical support and knowledge they need to act and make informed decisions about how their existing 6-12th courses, and extra-curricular opportunities connect and apply to career and post-secondary awareness, readiness, and pathways.

The GoGira application is available anytime, anywhere, and begins a reflective process as early as 6th grade to help students understand their interests and opportunities in an engaging, interactive, and meaningful approach.

What is your solution?

GoGira is currently a prototype wireframe. I have developed and curated platform schematics, data, APIs, design, brand, content needs, and messaging. I have also met with developers to provide estimates on costs to develop the digital platform features and associated IOS/Android applications to adhere to student privacy regulations (FERPA and COPPA) in the United States. The next steps are to contract developers to build the desktop application while simultaneously building content assets to upload onto the platform upon delivery.

As Helen Quinn, Chair of the National Research Council committee for the K-12 Next Generation Science Standards states “People(students) don’t choose a career they’ve never heard of... knowing there are people who design things rather than just thinking things exist because they exist—is really important in order to even begin to think about careers that are different from those of their parents."

Thus, when students are exposed to models and representations of STEM careers such as engineering practices, they become more interested in finding and attaining such opportunities.

Access to career awareness and higher education preparedness in the United States is not equitable. GoGira bridges K-12 STEM education to careers, trades, and colleges. Answers the question "Why do I need to learn this?" by inspiring students ages 13-21 to investigate careers and colleges through an inclusive, reflective, and engaging multimedia experience resulting in a portfolio of assessed interests.

GoGira offers a unique value proposition over other tools in the market by behaving as an accessible, engaging, and interactive career and college counselor for everyone (Gen Z and Alpha students ages 13-21) via:

1. Gen Z/Alpha Students may self-reflect and assess their interests, values, and abilities using interactive assessments. (Other tools available are very didactic and too formal)

2. Interact with high-quality and engaging Gen Z/Alpha multimedia content delivered by peers and mentors relating to careers, academic vitality, trades, financial aid, tutoring, vocational schools, and colleges/universities all on one application. (Other print and digital tools available provide rote information in traditional textbook and encyclopedic methods)

3. Helps students build and develop a visual and shareable portfolio of best-fitting careers, trade schools, and universities crafted by their individual values, interests, abilities, extra-curriculars, level of commitment, and desired pathways. GoGira portfolios will always vary by individual students' inputs to craft personalized rankings and listings-- no more standardized rankings! (Other tools such as US News use standardized rankings of colleges/universities)

4. Upon selecting a career and associated major(s), students prioritize prerequisites, tasks, and deadlines by pathway and level of post-secondary commitment (i.e. certificates, 2-year, 4-year, Post-Graduate)

5. Go-to-Market Strategy consists of free subscriptions for students and their parents; freemium-to-paid subscription models for K-12 counselors, K-12 administrators, community colleges, universities, trade and vocational schools; tutors, and corporate partnerships. (several other tools have paywalls for students and parents)

6. GoGira is comprehensive and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (K-12 College and Career Counselors offer limited time, resources, and support to individual students and their parents investigating, planning, and preparing for post-secondary).

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

GoGira, A virtual college and career STEM counselor and mentor, aims to serve students between the ages of 13-21. Gen Z and Alpha students represent an incredibly diverse array of socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, and geographic locations. Through engaging and visual modeling of realistic STEM pathways and occupations in action, students' confidence and curiosity for STEM fields increase. Thus, paving the way for a robust pipeline of generational youth and females engaging in and planning for STEM careers.

To understand student needs, we employ a combination of methods such as surveys, focus group discussions, and individual interviews to gain insights into their expectations, challenges, and aspirations related to STEM education and careers. The objective is to understand the barriers that exist to accessing STEM education, potential career paths, and the resources necessary to help them succeed.

Students are engaged throughout the GoGira development process. We continuously elicit feedback and suggestions to refine and adapt our offerings. Additionally, we utilize user-testing scenarios where students can interact with the wireframes and anticipated features to assess the efficacy and user-friendliness of the service.

How GoGira address Gen Z/Alpha students' needs, including females:

Access to STEM Careers: GoGira provides a comprehensive understanding of STEM careers and pathways. It brings awareness and excitement to various opportunities, including greater representation of women. Allows students, to make more informed decisions about their futures rather than relying on traditions and stereotypes.
Individualized Support: Recognizing that every student's learning path and career aspirations are unique, GoGira offers personalized guidance and rankings tailored to each student's interests, strengths, and future goals.
24/7 Availability: The online nature of GoGira ensures that assistance is available whenever a student or parent needs it, eliminating the constraints of traditional school, college, and career counselors.
Academic Support: In addition to career mentoring and modeling, GoGira can provide resources and guidance to help students excel in their current STEM studies, reinforcing their passion for the field and aiding in their academic success.
Skills Development: GoGira offers humanities guidance on developing power skills like communication, leadership, problem-solving, and teamwork, which are crucial for success in STEM fields.
Mentorship: GoGira connects students with real-life mentors in STEM fields, providing them with invaluable insights and experiences into their pathways.
Financial Guidance: Understanding that cost can be a significant barrier to pursuing post-secondary education, GoGira provides information on scholarships, grants, and other financial aid opportunities.
Commitment and Preparation: GoGira values students goals and desired time commitments to achieve desired careers by preparing them with educational roadmaps to completion. Students may receive alternative pathway recommendations for short- to long-term time commitments in post-secondary education, such as certificates from vocational schools, 2-year colleges, 4-year colleges, and post-graduate education.

How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?

I was born for this role and to inspire today's youth and in-particular females to find engagement and placement in STEM education, practices, and occupations.

I came from a family of seven who lived in a poverty-stricken neighborhood where it was not unusual to see drug dealers, SWAT team raids, drive-bys, and shootings. While in high school, as if to see one shooting wasn't enough, I was unfortunate enough to be traumatized by two as were thousands of my classmates. To say that our childhood environment was not stressful is an understatement. I say "our" because this experience was not unique to me or my siblings but in fact impacts millions of students who continue to live in similar settings across the nation today.

My family was fortunate in that my Spanish-speaking mom encouraged us to be competitive, achieve STEM excellence, and strive for perfect attendance despite the stressors of the neighborhood. STEM education for us was an escape from the realities of poverty living.

However, figuring out how to attend and pay for college was another matter in which I was unprepared. So, my junior year, I wrote to the President of the United States and received two one-thousand page directories of universities and scholarships from the U.S Department of Education; and a letter suggesting that I apply for as many scholarships as possible. I did exactly that resulting in over hundred and fifty thousand dollars in awards.

While being accepted to IVY league universities, my father's health deteriorated and I opted to commute and attend a local state university to be near family. I would pay it forward by counseling my younger siblings, friends, community members on how to apply, attend, and pay for college.

My career has been centered around researching and developing effective educational tools for millions of students and designing and executing successful go to market strategies in the United States. Most recently, I partnered with a team of STEM scientists and videographers at Twig-World in Scotland and Imperial College of London to form Twig Education where I led European teams with no experience in U.S. education into developing, iterating, and messaging a Next Generations Science Standards STEM curriculum called Twig Science for K-8 students and teachers. Twig Science continues to be implemented by thousands of teachers and used by millions of students across the United States. Twig Science was a labor of love because it was not only effective but inspired young students to find passion in STEM careers. The board ultimately sold Twig Education and I was awarded a huge promotion and salary which I ultimately left to start GoGira and continue my mission.

GoGira provides girls and young women with context and roadmaps about STEM careers. The platform will provide information about different STEM careers, the skills and education required for these careers, and the salaries and job prospects for these careers.Connecting girls and young women with role models in STEM. The platform could connect girls and young women with role models in STEM through online forums, mentorship programs, and internship opportunities.Creating a supportive community for girls and young women in STEM. The platform could create a supportive community for girls and young women in STEM through online forums, chat rooms, and social media groups.

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Ensure continuity across STEM education in order to decrease successive drop-off in completion rates from K-12 through undergraduate years.

In what city and state is your solution team headquartered?

Huntington Beach, CA, USA

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model, but which is not yet serving anyone

Please share details about what makes your solution a Prototype rather than a Concept.

Why are you applying to the Challenge?

I am applying to the challenge so that I may access the MIT Solve network for additional support to scale GoGira from Prototype to launching the MVP by fall, 2024.

The support from the MIT Solve would be invaluable to GoGira as a startup. The MIT Solve program would provide the platform with access to a network of resource partners, learning and development modules, individual or group leadership coaching, and a peer-to-peer network. This support would help me refine the business model, theory of change, and plans for scaling.

With the support from the MIT Solve program, the platform could make a significant contribution to closing the gender gap in STEM as well as women leaders in Education Technologies.

Financial: The MIT Solve program could help GoGira to raise funds through its network of resource partners.
Technical: GoGira will develop a user-friendly and effective platform.
Legal: GoGira will comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
Cultural: The MIT Solve program will help GoGira to overcome cultural barriers through its advocacy efforts.
Market: Through the MIT Solve brand, it will accelerate reach to a large enough market through its network of resource partners.

With the support from the MIT Solve program, the GoGira can overcome these barriers and make a significant contribution to closing the gender gap in access to STEM pathways and careers for students ages 13-21.

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Cheryl De La Vega, CEO and Founder

How is your Team Lead connected to the community or communities in which your project is based?

I was born for this role and to inspire today's youth and in-particular females to find engagement and placement in STEM education, practices, and occupations.

Please specify how you first heard about Solve.

It was recommended by my Cornell Professor