Afterschool programs: Enter the Community in Nature Prize Challenge! Help youth design an impactful community project and compete to win up to $3,500.
Our work has positively impacted 12.5 million young people and built STEM capacity in more than 390,000 local programs nationwide.
One of our first flagship initiatives, the Million Girls Moonshot, exceeded its ambitious goal of engaging 1 million girls in five years. Together with our partners, we’ve achieved something extraordinary — catalyzing a nationwide movement that has impacted 5.5 million young people overall across America through afterschool STEM.
No one understands this work better. Building, growing and expanding access to afterschool and summer STEM is who we are—and we have the track record to prove it.
Nearly 8 in 10 young people participating in STEM Next–supported programs reported positive changes in their STEM engagement as a result.
More than 175,000 local afterschool and summer programs have been impacted by our work.
Our comprehensive resources have supported nearly 400,000 out-of-school educators nationwide.
Through our work with national and state partners, STEM Next provides out-of-school programs the tools and resources they need to deliver the best possible STEM experiences for youth.
Our collaboration with NASA’s Artemis mission brought hands-on space exploration to over 100,000 out-of-school programs, reaching millions of young learners. When a student in rural Idaho gets to ask an astronaut a question live from the International Space Station, or sees experiments in microgravity that connect to what they’re learning here on Earth, their perception of what’s possible expands.
We share career-connected resources with state networks to pilot new ideas. In Louisiana, this led to collaboration with the state STEM Council to bring career exploration into afterschool programs. In Arkansas, the state network now partners with local employers to host STEM career workshops, reaching hundreds of young people.
We train state and regional leaders so they can support implementation at the community program level. In nearly every state, afterschool and summer networks have woven our strategies into year-round trainings and events for local program staff. So, once programs start using these methods, they become a standard part of how afterschool STEM is delivered.
When she was just in third grade, Jordyn discovered her passion for aerospace while building a rocket in an afterschool program. Today, she’s a first-generation college student majoring in mechanical engineering with a concentration in aerospace at Colorado State University. Thanks to the Million Girls Moonshot’s support of New Mexico Out-of-School Time Network (NMOST), Jordyn received a ‘Young Women in STEM’ scholarship helping her pursue her passion for aerospace.
“We didn’t have very many opportunities at my school for science, but in my afterschool program, I got to make a rocket, and that’s when I knew what I wanted to do with my future.” — Jordyn Montoya, Young Women in STEM Scholar
The Flight Crew is a powerful youth ambassador program of STEM Next elevating young voices in STEM to inspire their peers and demonstrate that STEM is for everyone and happens everywhere. Surveys of alumni show the Flight Crew experience has clearly strengthened participants’ confidence and sense of belonging in STEM.
Felt they gained a supportive community of peers
Felt inspired to be changemakers in their communities
Reported a stronger sense of belonging in STEM.
Nikhita
Flight Crew Alumni
Mackenzie
“The Million Girls Moonshot is really important because it provides a structure, a framework and quality resources we can pass directly on to our programs.”
Terri Foulkes
Missouri Afterschool Network
“Without the Moonshot, we wouldn’t be having the intentional focus that we need on making sure that young people who have been historically excluded from STEM careers and college experiences are intentionally focused on being included. “
Ellie Mitchell
Executive Director, Maryland Out of School Time Network (MOST)
“We’re seeing an increase … in the number of programs reporting they are doing STEM, and we’re also seeing an increase in the number of youth identifying with a STEM Identity and having a career interest in STEM. “
Susan Stanton
Act Now Illinois
Success Stories
Meet three teens whose summer STEM programs helped them explore career paths,…
This series of events organized by STEM Next and Teen Science Café…
At STEM From Dance, girls don’t just learn about STEM—they bring it…
Near-peer mentorship—where older students guide younger peers—is one of the critical strategies…
The data is clear: Year 3 of our Million Girls Moonshot initiative…
