FACT SHEET: Vice President Harris Announces Commitments to Inspire, Prepare, and Employ the Space Workforce

In collaboration with White House National Space Council’s priority to promote career awareness of space opportunities, STEM Next Opportunity Fund, as part of our Million Girls Moonshot, announces our commitment to the effort, especially to inspire more girls and young people of color to pursue space STEM careers.

In spring 2022, STEM Next Opportunity Fund launched the Million Girls Moonshot Flight Crew, designed to respond to the needs of the next generation of female STEM leaders.

With youth representatives from every U.S. state and territory, Flight Crew amplifies youth voices in the national conversation around STEM equity as we work toward a future where every young girl can imagine themselves as a future space explorer, leader, engineer, builder or inventor. Space STEM careers offer women the opportunity to engage in some of the most exciting realms of discovery and technological innovation.

This national initiative builds on the success of an initial pilot program, scaling to inspire and bring opportunities for space STEM career awareness, peer leadership, and mentorship to even more girls.

One youth, ages 13-18, per state is selected to participate in a peer leadership cohort and is engaged in an 8-month, research-based youth leadership development program. Throughout their service in the Million Girls Moonshot Flight Crew, youth receive a comprehensive suite of resources, trainings and supports that equip them to be leading voices in the national conversation about the value of STEM learning for youth in afterschool and summer programs and the vast array of opportunity and possibility that a career in space STEM provides.

The program will launch a national search for the national youth cohort on October 11, 2022, with students serving a one-year term throughout 2023. For more information contact Teresa Drew at info@milliongirlsmoonshot.org