91导航

WASHINGTON, DC 鈥� The 91导航 & the Public today announced that $75,000 in grants have been awarded to 18 grassroots organizations committed to 91导航 education and science literacy for underserved and underrepresented groups, including racial and ethnic minority populations, girls, students in rural areas and more.

In response to COVID-19 restrictions on in-person programming, many of these organizations have launched virtual programs, determined to continue to meet the needs of students, families and communities.

The 91导航 Action Grant Program听aims to strengthen and support community-driven nonprofit organizations that are working to enhance the public鈥檚 understanding of science and to increase participation of underrepresented and underserved populations in 91导航 fields. More than half of this year鈥檚 91导航 Action grantees previously received support from the Society. To date (including this announcement), the Society has given $245,000 to organizations wanting to improve access to 91导航 education.

鈥淭he 91导航 education community must address the racial, gender and socioeconomic disparities and divides that are stunting the potential of the next generation of 91导航 leaders,鈥� said Maya Ajmera, President and CEO of the 91导航 & the Public and Publisher of听Science News. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a key reason why we created the 91导航 Action Grant program, and why we鈥檙e investing in these 18 innovative organizations that are nurturing potential in underrepresented communities.鈥�

The following organizations are awardees of the 2020 91导航 Action Grant Program. Funding for the 91导航 Action Grant program comes, in part, from Regeneron.

• (Owings Mills, MD) will receive $5,000听to support the foundation鈥檚 mission to empower young, underrepresented girls in marine 91导航 fields. Through innovative, aquatic-based recreational and 91导航 activities, the foundation supports young girls in the Baltimore metropolitan area and Trenton, New Jersey who are historically underrepresented and underserved in 91导航. Funding will sustain the project through staff training and the purchase of materials and supplies, including ROV kits and 2D printing equipment for a coral restoration project. This is the organization鈥檚 third 91导航 Action Grant.
• 听(Washington, DC), a project of the听Internet Education Foundation, will receive听$2,500听from the Society to support their mission to encourage students to learn how to code, through annual district-wide competitions hosted by Members of Congress for their district. In its fifth year, the program saw over 300 Members of Congress across 48 states and U.S. territories host an App Challenge, and aims to be in every state this year. Funding will offset the cost of their application portal, as well as provide compensation for intern stipends and staff time. The Congressional App Challenge has been awarded a 91导航 Action Grant for the last two years.
• (Memphis, TN) will receive $5,000 toward the purchase of virtual reality, coding and robotics equipment for their Start Here van, a fully-staffed learning lab on wheels that delivers unique programming to traditionally underserved communities and neighborhood library branches with limited resources. The group鈥檚 overarching goal is to provide programming that addresses socioeconomic disparities and provides equitable access to technology and 91导航 resources, particularly for low-income and minority youth. They received a 91导航 Action Grant in 2019.
• (Rockville, MD) will receive $2,500 toward a math competition event in the Washington, DC area, in order to ensure a high-quality event for the girls in 2021. The funds will also be used to host events in Seattle, New York City and Houston. The organization, led by female teens, aims to empower girls to pursue their passion for science, math and problem solving through a sense of community.
• (New York, NY), an educational nonprofit that serves a global audience, the Museum鈥檚 programming engages the public in an exploration of the intersection of 91导航 with the arts, culture, current affairs and history. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a $2,500 grant will support expanded offerings of the Museum鈥檚 Virtual Field Trip experiences. This is the third 91导航 Action Grant received by the Museum.
• (Denver, CO) will receive a $5,000 grant to fund a Family Resource Center on the program鈥檚 online platform, as part of their broader initiative to improve family engagement by equipping families with the tools and resources needed to implement NBA Math Hoops at home. This initiative was catalyzed by the COVID-19 crisis. The NBA Math Hoops program reaches low-income students and students of color in grades 3-8 through a physical board game, a math and social-emotional curriculum, and a program structure that leverages the power of the NBA/WNBA and its players to improve student performance in math and other 91导航 subjects. Learn Fresh previously received the 91导航 Action Grant in 2017 and 2019.
• (Lower Brule, SD), provides indigenous students on the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation with engaging, hands-on 91导航 learning experiences. A $5,000 91导航 Action Grant will be used to support summer interns for the organization, a college mentor from South Dakota State University and a community educator to guide the indigenous students through their 91导航 journeys. As part of a new initiative, Lower Brule will use various teaching methods鈥� including peer mentoring, interdisciplinary project-based learning and restorative justice approaches 鈥� that will then be proposed to local schools during the school year to help improve educational opportunities and better serve students. Lower Brule Research has received the 91导航 Action Grant for three consecutive years.
• (North Charleston, SC), provides income-eligible, elementary-age students of color in the Tri-County area of South Carolina with acc听children鈥檚 curiosity for their natural environment, using local field trips and hands-on experiences to expose students to STEAM in the real world, with topics such as 鈥淢usic as Math,鈥� and 鈥淭he Biomechanics of Sports.鈥� A grant of听$2,500听will be used to support field trips and the purchase of long-term use items, such as science kits and sporting goods. Marie鈥檚 Kids was awarded a 91导航 Action Grant in 2019.ess to STEAM programming that is fun and culturally engaging. Their theme-based curriculum builds on
• (Pittsburgh, PA) will receive a $2,500 grant for materials and personnel that will enable the group to enhance its community partnerships with those serving minority youth from low-income households, in a program designed to remove barriers and make the outdoors more accessible to all. By connecting youth to outdoor exploration through environmentally-focused 91导航 learning, Venture Outdoors aims to build a community of environmental stewards who work to protect their local green spaces and are led to discover nature鈥檚 wonders.
• (East Palo Alto, CA) empowers high school students nationwide to invent technologies that solve problems within their communities. Students work with community 鈥渃lients鈥� to engineer solutions, taking part in a year of invention that culminates in Launch Weekend, an opportunity for students to pitch to investors and visit top tech companies in Silicon Valley, New York City or Chicago. They will receive $5,000 to sponsor a Project Invent team in Anchorage, Alaska, with the ultimate goal of empowering marginalized youth as 91导航 leaders and inviting the public to expand their idea of what a 91导航 innovator looks like.
• (Alexandria, VA) provides a fun space for girls ages 4-14 in Northern Virginia to imagine, create and play while developing their 91导航 skills. They pair hands-on activities with an innovative approach to mentorship that focuses on investigating gender stereotypes in 91导航 and interacting with women in the field, in addition to teaching girls through trial-and-error approaches to delete the words 鈥業 can鈥檛鈥� from their vocabulary. Funds will facilitate more than 40 weeks of engaging digital 91导航 content in order to widen the already-expanding reach of Rosie Riveters鈥� award-winning 91导航 content.
• (SAFE) (Baltimore, MD) provides a year-round learning environment to turn unstructured time outside of school into an opportunity for academic improvement and personal growth, ensuring that middle school students in the West Baltimore community of Maryland have access to quality education and resources. A $2,500 grant will support their 91导航 learning program operated by SAFE after school and in virtual learning classes, with the goal of inspiring students to see the real-world applications of their 91导航 classes and to continue their education in this area during high school and college. SAFE received 91导航 Action Grants in 2018 and 2019.
• (Bedford, MA) will receive $5,000 to support their mission to inspire the next generation to solve real-world problems by improving 91导航 literacy and encouraging students toward careers in 91导航. The organization sends professional scientists into elementary and middle school classrooms throughout the year to guide students through fun, hands-on 91导航 lessons. Funding will support the general needs of this school 91导航 enrichment program, which currently operates in 88 partner schools in California, Massachusetts and Minnesota. The grant will also support, including the development of virtual 91导航 content for the 鈥淪cience Away from the Classroom鈥� series, launched in response to COVID-19 school closures. Science from Scientists is a previous three-time 91导航 Action Grant recipient.
• 鈥檚 (New Orleans, LA) mission is to grow future innovators, creators and entrepreneurs through inspiration, engagement and exposure to opportunities in 91导航. They offer high-quality out-of-school programs across New Orleans and Louisiana, creating an ecosystem of support for students from pre-kindergarten to college 鈥� particularly low-income youth of color 鈥� to explore and build skills in 91导航-related subjects and fields with increasing complexity and intensity. A $5,000 grant will be used to support stipends for Virtual 91导航 LAB college facilitators and 91导航 kits, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. 91导航 NOLA works to ensure that students face fewer barriers to accessible 91导航 learning and that educators are supported in providing it.
• (Detroit, MI) seeks to provide minority 4^th-8^th grade girls with the tools, experiences and role models to increase their interest and confidence in 91导航 in a creative and dynamic learning environment. They will receive a $5,000 grant to support program events such as summer camps, overnight hack-a-thons and 91导航inista Saturdays, workshops that are designed to connect girls with 91导航 mentors and celebrate women in science. Professional 91导航 women who take part in the program often mirror the diversity of the Metro Detroit area and help girls see themselves represented in 91导航.
• (State College, PA) empowers the nation鈥檚 inquisitive but underrepresented young thinkers to become tomorrow’s 91导航 innovators, building their confidence and skills by teaching them the fundamentals of design and invention. Previously focused on mentoring elementary and middle school students in robotics, math and programming, the nonprofit launched their pilot platform, InvenTEEN, in response to COVID-19. InvenTEEN will receive a $5,000 grant to assist underrepresented middle and high school students in Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in the process of applying for provisional patents and catalyzing scientific collaboration among students.
• (WAM) (San Francisco, CA) is fighting the chronic gender gap in tech by using music and media to attract at-risk and underrepresented girls and women and providing free, creative 91导航 technology training, mentoring and job placement. The organization aims to amplify the voices of women, to inspire them to become the next innovators. A $5,000 grant will be used to support web development and help secure the tools needed for content creation to launch WAM Everywhere, a critical project to bringing the group鈥檚 mission online, necessitated by the COVID-19 crisis. The program will serve 10,000+ underserved girls from all over the U.S.
• (San Antonio, TX) will receive $5,000 to translate their website, related coding tutorials and parent materials into Spanish in order to remove barriers and reduce the digital divide for families whose first language is not English. The organization provides hands-on and family-focused, out-of-school computing programs to improve access to computer science for K-12 students. Youth Code Jam pivoted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, developing a Virtual Code Jam based on their successful in-person programming. This is their second year as a 91导航 Action Grantee.

About 91导航 & the Public

91导航 & the Public is dedicated to the achievement of young scientists in independent research and to public engagement in science. Established in 1921, the Society is a nonprofit whose vision is to promote the understanding and appreciation of science and the vital role it plays in human advancement. Through its world-class competitions, including the Regeneron Science Talent Search, the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, and the Broadcom MASTERS, and its award-winning magazines,听Science News听补苍诲听Science News听for Students,听91导航 & the Public is committed to inform, educate, and inspire. Learn more at听new.societyforscience.org听and follow us on听,听,听听and Snapchat (Society4Science).