| Program Description | Femme2STEM is a program geared toward serving BIPOC women and nonbinary students ages 16-24 in Seattle who are furthest from opportunity, by assisting them to overcome institutional barriers and racial and social inequities to explore, plan, and ultimately launch careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Women of color have a diverse array of strengths to bring to STEM fields and their culture, language, background, experiences, and perspectives offer great value and benefit to STEM professions. This program will provide access to career and education exploration, by helping students obtain paid internships in the STEM field, site visits and information sessions with local STEM organizations (for example we went to the Blue Origin facility), informational interviews with other women in the field (for example we spoke with a research assistant at Yale University), one on one support, have access to mentors and employment workshops, and be able to build a network with likeminded peers for support. We offer three events, both in-person and virtually, focusing on either skill building, career exploration, or gender/race/mental health/ or other social topics to prepare students for success. The Youth Navigator also meets with the students once per month to discuss on individual needs and goals. |