STEMY Information

STEMY (STEM+Youth) is an entirely student-run nonprofit organization on a mission to break entrenched racial, gender, and socioeconomic barriers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We began as an after-school gathering of a few passionate students eager to help our peers with their science fair projects. However, looking outside our high school, we saw that too many of our fellow students were left to their own devices and weren’t getting the education they deserved. Budget restraints within our broader school district, for instance, meant many schools couldn’t provide quality STEM education in the classroom, much less offer compelling extracurricular enrichment programs. Nationally, less than half of 8th-grade teachers in high-poverty schools have sufficient resources to teach science. Thus, we evolved and expanded into STEMY—a 501(c)(3) dedicated to providing high-quality educational opportunities to all students in our community regardless of gender or background. As an entirely youth-driven organization of passionate high school STEM students, we are well equipped to recruit enthusiasm and connect with our STEM-disadvantaged peers in unique and, for us, incredibly fulfilling ways. Through peer-to-peer programs and initiatives, including workshops with middle and elementary schoolers, a formal scientific journal, and innovative science kits, we’ve directly changed the lives of over 900 students.