This blog post was written by STEM Next Opportunity Fund
STEM Next Opportunity Fund, together with a wide range of technology and philanthropic leaders today launched the Million Girls Moonshot, a transformative, nationwide movement designed to close the gender gap in STEM and re-imagine who can engineer, who can build and who can invent. The initiative will provide grant funding and in-kind resources including technical assistance, access to educational content and STEM mentors to the afterschool networks in all 50 states so they can provide high-quality STEM learning opportunities to millions of young people across the country.
The goal of the Million Girls Moonshot is to engage 1 million more girls in immersive, hands-on STEM learning opportunities and equip them with an Engineering Mindset, which encourages building, experimenting and perseverance. By working with the afterschool networks in each state, the Million Girls Moonshot has the potential to reach more than 10 million school-age youth and 100,000 afterschool programs across the country – many of which operate in communities that have traditionally lacked access to high-quality STEM education.
Increasing gender, racial and socioeconomic diversity in STEM fields has been a longstanding challenge, and requires a collaborative, collective impact approach. That is why the Million Girls Moonshot involves a wide range of cross-sector partners including the Intel Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, NASA, STEMconnector, Qualcomm Incorporated and many other leading technology, philanthropic and STEM organizations. Together, these organizations will not only spark girls’ passion for STEM, also ensure they are supported to continue pursuing STEM in high school and beyond so they can become the inventors, engineers and break-through scientists solving the challenges of tomorrow and moving our society forward.
Learn more about the Million Girls Moonshot and get involved at www.MillionGirlsMoonshot.org. Follow us on Twitter at @girlsmoonshot.