Our Impact
We believe that STEM learning should be everywhere – in every community, large or small, rural or urban and regardless of incomes or resources.
That’s why, with powerful partnerships, we are accelerating what works to reach more kids and communities faster.
Here’s what we have accomplished in the last three years.
Launching our Million Girls Moonshot, we set out to reach one million more girls in STEM in five years.
In just three years, we reached:
1.5 million girls
and just as many boys in all 50 states.
The Moonshot develops an engineering mindset in youth by the end of middle school, building their interest, identify, supports, skills and perseverance to pursue STEM.
Why this matters: Women make up half of workers with postsecondary degrees in the U.S., yet only 15% work in engineering occupations.
Helena, Million Girls Moonshot Flight Crew
Out-of-School Time STEM Academy
Deploying research-based tools and training, we build skills with informal educators to deliver exceptional STEM programming.
Since 2020, across the nation, we have trained more than
210,000 educators
And when those trained, confident educators put the best practices into action, we accelerate youth outcomes.
Why this matters: Research suggests that the majority of informal educators in OST programs lack strong STEM backgrounds (Chi et al., 2008), leading to repeated calls for professional learning opportunities (e.g., National Research Council, 2015; Rosa, 2018).
The informal educator field needs and is calling for more training, support, and confidence to do STEM really well.
Building Skills
Tools for informal educators to deliver exception STEM
– Megan Nyce, Colorado Afterschool Partnership
Igniting Innovation
We know it takes a grassroots and a grasstops approach to make opportunities a reality for all kids. That’s why we’re piloting new ideas and strengthening connections in local programs and igniting innovation.
Imagine Science
A powerful collaboration, managed by STEM Next, of four of the nation’s largest youth-serving organizations—Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Girls Inc., the National 4-H Council, and the YMCA of the USA—joined forces to launch a shared mission -to build excitement and confidence in young people from low-income communities in pursuing STEM careers. This unprecedented partnership leveraged organizational strengths and today is working in
16 communities nationwide serving over 500,000 under-represented youth.
Research & Advocacy
We are powering lasting change by launching new ideas into action through our policy and advocacy work. STEM Next Opportunity Fellows have added expertise and capacity to federal agencies to advance STEM learning and out-of-school learning. Since 2021, we have deployed
12 Fellows, and counting.
The most note-worthy Federal initiatives supporting STEM in out-of-school environments include: Engage Every Student; The National Partnership for Student Success; STEMM Opportunity Alliance; Raise the Bar: You Belong in STEM; and Youth Employment Works.
We partner, across industries, with a diverse cross-section of educational, government, philanthropic, and corporate leaders who share our vision for an inclusive STEM future. Because we know none of us can do this alone. We have
hundreds of thousands partners.
Opportunity Fellows
STEM Next deploys Fellows in high-impact placements with Federal Agencies and the White House.
Research
We partner with top researchers finding and incentivizing programs and partners to engage in research studies that identify innovative approaches and tools is a priority.
Building the Field
Building on Legacy
Building on the 25 years of investment in out-of-school STEM learning by the Noyce Foundation, STEM Next leaned into hundreds of powerful partnerships to make out-of-school STEM opportunities a reality for millions of young people across all 50 states.
Data-Driven
We invested in the research. Today, 74% of afterschool programs offer STEM activities, and with research, we know many of the ingredients that are required to get and keep interested in STEM. We have continued the necessary research to learn what works for kids and what practices ensure STEM learning for all.
Scaling the Work
STEM Next has advanced the out-of-school STEM learning field through scaling evidence-based programs, knowledge and capacity. We enabled hundreds of thousands of educators, leaders and policymakers to deliver effective programming and increase access for underrepresented youth.
Millions of Youth
We have supported millions of young people—mostly children in grades 4 through 8— to gain access to the learning opportunities they could not get in school, expanding the critical thinking and problem-solving skills critical for the future.
Accelerating What Works
Our theory of change in action has resulted in big impacts for millions of young people and hundreds of thousands of educators across the U.S. STEM Next is setting a new big goal to inspire 20 million more young people with STEM opportunities by 2027.
Hear It From Them
I can wholeheartedly say that I would not be the same person if it wasn't for my afterschool experiences. I've made so many friends, met incredible mentors and gained so many valuable skills
When the materials are there and the connections are made, you really start building opportunities for kids both locally and across the state (a reflection on the resources and training of the Million Girls Moonshot).
It's your time afterschool when you grow the most, because you have this time to yourself to really think about what you're doing and it's impact on your future.