When it comes to having conversations about important topics including sustainability, tech for good, aerospace engineering and artificial intelligence, the appropriate forum that quickly comes to mind is the United Nations.
That might seem too limiting to the SciTech Institute, a nonprofit whose parent is the Arizona Technology Council.
Instead, the Institute envisions 1,000 middle and high school students leading global conversations around the topics with business, community and education leaders. That is the purpose of the upcoming 2024 Changemakers in STEM Virtual Youth Congress, a collaboration of the Institute, the Collective for Youth Empowerment in STEM & Society initiative of the Afterschool Alliance and the global community of practice called STEM Learning Ecosystems.
The Institute is no stranger to the international scene of STEM, the acronym referring to science, technology, education and math. Its Chief Science Officer program that originally launched in Arizona now counts members in 15 states — most recently Utah, Alabama, Idaho and Pennsylvania — and countries outside the U.S. border.
The agenda for the Youth Congress already has taken shape to include three online sessions:
- Learn from STEM professionals and each other about challenges in the four topics (Feb. 3)
- Design and brainstorm a community initiative around one of the topics (Feb. 17)
- Share each team’s idea with global leaders (March 2)
The idea for the Youth Congress came from Freya Abraham, a CSO alumnus who is now a student at The University of Arizona. Her observation “One of the biggest issues in education, if not the biggest, is a lack of student voice in the way decisions are made” led to creation of the inaugural event.
The event is not the first connection the Institute has with the international community. The CSO program’s presence outside the United States includes Colombia, Kenya, Kuwait and Mexico.
Closer to home, the Institute also remains focused on growing Arizona’s STEM ecosystem, which is organized into regional STEM hubs and statewide working groups that connect communities, share resources, align STEM efforts and, ultimately, build the state’s future STEM workforce.
As the ecosystem’s backbone organization, the Institute fosters community leadership, coordinates hub and working group engagement, connects partner organizations, and develops key resources to guide STEM efforts in Arizona. Key successes in the Institute’s 2022-2023 season included:
- Development of an Arizona STEM ecosystem charter to align efforts and boost collaboration among STEM leaders around the state.
- Launch of the first West Valley STEM hub steering committee.
- Onboarding of four part-time hub coordinators in Coconino, Yavapai, Pima and Pinal counties.
- Participation in the first two statewide hub projects implemented locally through the support of the hub coordinators.
- Development of five adaptable hub models to fit local goals and strategies.
To learn more and register, visit bit.ly/STEM4CHANGE.
