STEM to the Future

2022 Review

Letter from the Founder

The “grand challenges” of our time—whether it be Earth’s carbon emissions reaching a level of no return, the current and impending water crises in cities such as Jackson and Los Angeles, or the crumbling infrastructure in the USA,—disproportionately impact Black and Latinx communities and all require STEM-based solutions. It’s obvious to the youth that they are inheriting a planet, economic system, and country that are in peril. John Rockerfeller, one of the wealthiest and most influential figures in United States public education said, “I don’t want a nation of thinkers, I want a nation of workers.” If this vision remains the same, our youth will be ill-equipped to address these systemic injustices disproportionately plaguing our communities. The work we’re doing at STEM to the Future goes far beyond ensuring Black and Latinx youth will one day be able to procure employment in a STEAM field. We are fundamentally changing the way education programs are facilitated. We believe that if you truly want to build Black and Latinx youth’s identities within STEAM, it must be done through a social justice lens. At STTF our students are learning new skills, using those skills to help their communities, while developing their ability to critically read the world around them. Perhaps most importantly, they have autonomy over that process.

Each of our student-led programs has its own theme, but within each theme the kids have meaningful say about what they learn, who they learn it from, and how they’ll use what they’re learning to support their community. For example, during the height of the pandemic, our girls and non-binary robotics programs decided as a group to use their robots to deliver PPE to elders. After conducting research to learn more about the highest priority issues in their community, the youth in our creative design program noticed that the LGBTQ community had the least amount of support. To address this they created a pop-up store, called Little Village of Love, where they sold clothes and artwork they created to raise awareness and funds for the LGBTQ and unhoused communities. While we are using this abolitionist, liberatory approach within the context of STEAM, we know this framework to be applicable for any subject. Our goal this year is to gather more evidence and high-quality research that supports our claims so that we can support educators and youth across the country as they actualize their potential to create the futures they want and deserve.

Peace,

jacob adams

Founder, Executive Director, STEM to the Future

Mission

Our mission is to inspire and motivate elementary and middle school Black and Latinx youth to use their passions to create the world they want and deserve.

According to the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Black and Latinx students are significantly more likely than their white peers to identify social change as essential to their career goals. Black and Latinx students’ disproportionate interest in social justice is causally linked to their underrepresentation in STEM, given that STEM teachers and employers are traditionally not focused on social change. Additionally, the myth that STEM is for older students, which has been debunked by research supported by the National Science Foundation, has contributed to funding being concentrated in higher grade levels, depriving students of a critical foundation for future learning. Filtering Black and Latinx students out of STEM can impact the trajectory of their life and perpetuate social injustices in need of technical solutions.

Impact Statement

In the next 5 years, we will have our own community center that is the hub of our work.

The center will provide us a central place to conduct professional development with educators and administrators who are turning their classrooms and schools into spaces where youth develop their leadership, activism, and imagination as they apply what they’re learning to support their communities. Over 100 educators, administrators, and youth development organizations from all over the country will convene at the center to discuss liberatory education and collaborate with one another and share how they are creating schools and programs that provide youth with the opportunity to maximize the potential of themselves and their communities.

The community center will host our student-led programs where over 50 youth will work with STEAM Residents, which are professionals, creatives, and activists, to develop long term solutions to unmet needs in the community. As a part of their residency, Residents will be able to use the center as a homebase to work on their own social impact projects. For example, our photography instructor will be able to use the center as their studio in addition to teaching the students how to use photography to tell the stories of their community.

We will take our research backed learnings from the convenings and our ongoing student-led programs and share them with school districts, policy makers, education funders, and other stakeholders as we look to fundamentally alter the ways in which we educate the youth.

Planting the Seed

Program:
Planting the Seed

Served: 1,557

Partnered with seven schools to provide weekly contextualized STEAM instruction

Partnered with 23 LA County Libraries to conduct workshops for students and families

For the Greater Good

Program:
For the Greater Good

Trained 65 educators across three organizations

After one training, 90% of educators feel comfortable using the tools and materials provided by STTF to implement the curriculum at their school

Theory x Practice

Program:
Theory x Practice

Served: 21

100% of youth felt like they mattered

100% of youth were able to develop a solution to an unmet need in the community

Freedom Summer Camp

Program:
Freedom Summer Camp

Served: 15

100% would refer a friend to FSC

100% want to come back to Freedom Summer Camp

100% felt like they mattered

Finances

$521k

Income

$214k

Expenses

1,650 youth served directly

30% Black

68% Latinx

2% Other

65 educators - 100% teach at Title 1 Schools teaching majority Black and Latinx youth

Working at 24 schools; serving over 750 youth

Testimonials

Words from students, parents, and teachers

"I cannot say enough how grateful I am for the experiences and community my daughter built. Since attending STEM to the Future, she has engaged with me about equity, community, environmental and political issues. I could not be more pleased!"

- Theory x Practice

"Thank you so much for organizing this summer again. Bryce had tons of fun and told me that he learned a lot about friendships and communication. He enjoyed meeting new kids and playing the activities that were set up. The math reinforcement is very much appreciated as the new year is about to start. We appreciate the love and effort that you and the staff put in ❤"

- Freedom Summer Camp

"I’ve noticed some great things STTF does with my students. I’ve seen students come out of their shells and really want to participate with the STEM activities. It helps their personality, their imagination, helps them broaden their horizon, and helps them do things they wouldn’t normally do. I’ve really enjoyed working with STEM to the Future."

- Planting the Seed

"The students and team were very excited about the slides and content, and we had fun with it. This semester, we will hopefully have access to the computer lab, so I’m looking forward to this next module!"

"We did have some high praise for your program as some folks came in on a site walk, including an engineer from Boeing about the overall approach and connectedness to equity issues. They were particularly impressed with the connection to the inventor of the traffic signal and the thought process students were given in their task. These are the moments where I feel absolutely fulfilled and confident in our partnership."

- For the Greater Good

Board Info

Jacob Adams

Founder, Executive Director of STEM to the Future

Dr. Dianne Hackett

Head of Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Tech Portfolio at Google

Kenneth Johnson

Co-Director of Governor’s School Leadership Academy

Cleon Rice

Lead, Patient Inclusion & Health Equity at Genentech

Amy Berkhoudt Woodman

Curriculum Development Manager at Code.org

Initiatives and Successes

Private art gallery tour with Nelson Makano

Students went on a private tour of South African artist, Nelson Makano’s, Blue exhibition. They were able to ask him about his inspiration, learn more about Africa, and spend time making meaning of art.

Pop-up store that raised over $800 in 4 hours

In an effort to raise awareness and funds for the LGTBQ community, students created a pop-up store, The Little Village of Love, where they raised funds and awareness by selling clothes and art work they created.

Student created cookbook

Students used data from the community to create a cookbook full of healthy recipes for kids and their families.

Mutual Aid-Event JAS

We partnered with J-Town Action Solidarity as our students supported their weekly mutual aid event in Little Tokyo. Youth helped distribute food, engineered automatic hand sanitizing machines, and handed out clothes they designed to their unhoused neighbors.

Donors

A tremendous thank you to our donors; we’d like to recognize the following organizations and individuals for their contributions in 2022!

4.0 Schools
Pacsun
LA Care
Black Equity Collective
Schusterman Family Foundation
California Community Foundation
Crail Johnson Family Foundation
Simons Foundation
VELA Education Fund
Nevro
Agron

Individuals

$10 - $99

Kenosha Hawkins
Elizabeth Palmer
Alina Greer
Lyndsey Collins Wilson
Maria Tapia
Lupe Roman
DJ Reynolds
Erica Linard
Yolanta Matlak
Neva Thiessen
Amanda Chang
Anjali Pal
Mike Harvey
Michael Oneppo
Rachel Kim
Scott Toohey
Emily Declusin
Miguel Centeno
Nancy Valdez
Gerardo Lopez
Jonathan Ramirez
Rodrigo Luis
Lillian Torres
Carla Alvarez
Karla Organista
Brian Pedroza
Julian Hernandez
Jeff Toohey
Tina Len
Kristine Oliveira
Amy Hanna
MariaElena Esquer
Erica Angle-Newman
Joshua Murguia
Amy Toohey
Emily Declusin
Jason Natelson
Deondre Coston
Yajaira Jaco
Adrian Ortiz
Lisandra Navarro
Stefan Straube
Clara Contreras
Barron Bazemore
Linda Figueroa
Martin Collins
Anna Marie Flores
Catherine Isom
Cameron Winfield
Thomas Figueroa
Will Pak
Megan Mcdermott
Garret Montoya
Allison Finn
Mabel Fung
Jessica Hicks
Jaqui Angulo
Nathan Clancy
Neetal Parekh
Fian Louie
Cheryl Rice
Shandrea Evans
George & Kashiwa Hatamiya
Terrelle Bynum
Chloe Ackie
Caray Slaughter
Roxanna Gonzalez
Brian Dundon
Akmal Salimov
Lily Earnest
Catherine Lo
Safia Ahmed
Angela Tseng
Camille Hunter
Gabby T
Sarah Engle
Ansley Aaron
Brandon Griswell
Joshua Fuller
Harrison Fitz
Andre Dixon
Tory Martin
Hannah Gaddy
Tiara Oglesby
Jonathan Collins
Cleon Rice
Nicholas Dukes
Jonathan Pack
Peter Finlayson
Gianel Santana
Marquitta McNair
Andre Ellis
Bonita AppleTea
Jennifer Maurer
Tim Young
Zoey Miller
Gabby Maurer
Jeriba Allen
Chiara Figueroa
Arrin Richards
Hagan Ramsey
Kelsie Willett
Christina Boada
Megan Smith
Tyler Andriano
Julianne Scherker
Daniel Leavitt
Sylvia Aguinaga
Maeve Williams
Tiana McKenna
Insia Zaidi
Lida Jennings
Winnie Tsang
Ashley Morales
Ashley Abeleda

$100 - $499

Courtney Miller
Jose Tapia
Cristal Esparza
Jeannie Pham
Taylor Grim
Troy Carson
Anna Wasim
Kristin Boisvert
Chris Amos
James Chen
Erin Peach
James Ooi
Krystle Richman
Anh Tran
Jordan Dow
Brendan Reville
Bethany Connor
Kenneth Akiha
Daniel Guo
Mackenzie Abraham
Amy Berkhoudt
Jeannie Pham
Alex Sosa
TrueCar TrueCar
Alexandra Nalevanko
Jasmine Samra
Gabriel Haack
Ricardo Gonzalez
Efrain & Leila Gonzalez
Anthony Gayles
Mark Toohey
Brittany Lanier
Cynthia Enciso
David Lam
Lisette Gold
Mike Tkaczyk
Sarah Haddow
Yongzhe Xie
Emma Young
Jay Rowland
Fredrik Posse
Elizabeth Gaudiest-Stewart
Michael Bell
Chellie P
Quincy O‚ÄôNeal
Christina Shin
Liz Nylund
Thayer Rosenberg
Keillor Irving
Jerita Leverette
Patrick DeLisser
Bene Webster
Amanda DCruz
Mike K
Todd Builione
Emma Young
Wesley French
Cleon Rice
Brenden Quock
Deandra Fike
Rachel Van Parys
Joseph Go Chua
Tonya Davis
Britt Coard
Lauren and Matthew C
May Quock

$500+

Todd Builione
Balakrishna Subramanian
Joshua Dahn
Peter Jenkins
Akinwale Akinbiyi
Terri Adams
Jessica Cohn
Eric Goldust
Niket Desai
Sarah Esser
Mark Hall
Rachel Van Parys
Jen Chiou
Prince Umegbolu
Lida Jennings

Community Partners

St Elmo VIllage
See-LA
Crenshaw Farmers Market
Stop LAPD Spying

Vision for 2023

Our long term goal is to support Black and Latinx elementary and middle school youth and educators across the country as they actualize their potential to address unmet needs in their communities. We took a big step in that direction in 2022-2023 by:

Researching our main hypothesis that Black and Latinx elementary and middle school youth are more likely to see themselves in STEAM if they learn it through a critical, social-justice lens. The resulting data and research will be used to advocate for a systems change that will revolutionize how STEAM is taught to Black and Latinx youth.Researching our main hypothesis that Black and Latinx elementary and middle school youth are more likely to see themselves in STEAM if they learn it through a critical, social-justice lens. The resulting data and research will be used to advocate for a systems change that will revolutionize how STEAM is taught to Black and Latinx youth.

Increasing the number of Theory+Practice students by 50% and doubling the amount of Theory+Practice classes taught over the course of the year.Increasing the number of Theory+Practice students by 50% and doubling the amount of Theory+Practice classes taught over the course of the year.

We just launched our STEAM Residency program which pairs youth with a STEAM creative, professional, activist, or enthusiast who brings their passions to the kids. Currently, our kids are learning from a local photographer, a grassroots activist organization, an environmentalist, and an engineer. Not only are students learning from these Residents who are representative of the kids we serve, but they are also applying what they’re learning to address unmet needs in the community.We just launched our STEAM Residency program which pairs youth with a STEAM creative, professional, activist, or enthusiast who brings their passions to the kids. Currently, our kids are learning from a local photographer, a grassroots activist organization, an environmentalist, and an engineer. Not only are students learning from these Residents who are representative of the kids we serve, but they are also applying what they’re learning to address unmet needs in the community.

Kids in our Theory+Practice programs will be hosting at least three community events where they develop workshops, presentations, and experiences to engage the community around important issues. As I type this, the kids are preparing for a Clean Air Day event where they will lead workshops and presentations about access to clean air and why they think it should be a human right.Kids in our Theory+Practice programs will be hosting at least three community events where they develop workshops, presentations, and experiences to engage the community around important issues. As I type this, the kids are preparing for a Clean Air Day event where they will lead workshops and presentations about access to clean air and why they think it should be a human right.

Evolving our professional development program and supporting educators not just on our STEAM+social justice curriculum but, working with an initial pilot of ~10 educators as they create student-led programs at their schools and organizations.