How Can We Help?

NeoSTEM has an important role to play in our community. At its best, NeoSTEM is an agent of change; it is a vehicle to create and facilitate meaningful STEM learning opportunities, particularly among Black and Brown students, throughout northeast Ohio. Through its DreamSTEM, WIR’ED, and Real World of STEM initiatives, NeoSTEM has created a framework to realize that change. We have good bones.

But how can we accelerate the process? What can we do to bring us closer to our next great leap forward? And, more importantly, how can we help our partners, leaders, and community members, individuals and businesses, reach their own goals?

We posed those questions to those who attended our August 3, 2021, ecosystem-wide meeting, and were thrilled with the answers we received. Our partners suggested that we:

• Create a directory of internship opportunities, allowing students to connect to the businesses and organizations looking for help.
• Create opportunities for students to become more familiar with the online platforms and tools they will use throughout their careers.
• Continue outreach to businesses and organizations – to STEM industry leaders in northeast Ohio – to help them understand the many benefits of being active partners in the NeoSTEM Ecosystem.

Each of these ideas embraces NeoSTEM’s mission. Putting them to practice will not only bring us closer to our goals, but allow us to help our partners reach theirs.

The NeoSTEM Ecosystem holds a virtual, open forum at 4:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday each month, and encourages everyone to join in the conversation. Our next meeting is on September 7, 2021, and you can register for the meeting here.

For more information, contact Dr. Alyssa Lenhoff-Briggs at alyssabriggs@tiesteach.org, or John Roszczyk at john@neostem.org.