STEM E3 is a hands-on, real-world STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program primarily for girls of color in fifth through eighth grades across Boulder County, emphasizing education, employment and entrepreneurship.
STEM E3 provides education opportunities, career exploration and mentorship for young students of color through Introductory Jam Sessions with local and national tech leaders, Level 2 Coding Cohort Sessions, Summer Coding Camps and Level 3 Ambassador positions.
STEM E3 Participant
In 2019, YWCA Boulder was selected as one of two YWCA branches in the country to be awarded a grant by Google.org to increase Black and Latinx students’ access to computer science and artificial intelligence education. Google.org granted YWCA USA $2 million over three years to be split between 15 YWCA branches around the country to support the YWCA’s STEM E3 (Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship) program, which works with young women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
As of May 2022, more than 500 students have participated since the STEM E3 program began in 2019. Introductory Jam Session hosts and partners have included Google, Ball Aerospace, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Zayo Group, St. Vrain Valley Schools Innovation Center in Longmont, and City of Longmont Youth Center.
- On 4/29/22 we had a great day at the Innovation Center in Longmont for our STEM Jam Session. Students from both BVSD and SVVSD attended and participated in an introductory coding workshop to learn some of the fundamentals of this important STEM skill. Afterward, students heard from a fantastic panel of women who are engineers at Ball Aerospace, including Allison Barto, director, national defense; Sandra Bonilla, mission assurance engineer; and Shannon Peterson, lead manufacturing engineer, national defense program. Thank you Allison, Sandra and Shannon for sharing your career journeys with our students!Students also toured the Innovation Center and learned about the STEM programs available there.
- In the 2021-2022 school year, nearly 90 students participated in our STEM programs, many in person again after the program was completely virtual due last year due to COVID.
- In September 2021, three local students serving as STEM E3 Level 3 Ambassadors shared their coding skills with six youth from the Northern Arapaho Tribe as part of Longmont Sister Cities ceremonies and events.
- 25 students completed their seven-week STEM E3 Level 2 Coding Cohort in fall 2021 and received free Chromebooks to continue their coding practice.
- The St. Vrain Valley Schools Innovation Center hosted two STEM E3 Introductory Jam Sessions, one in October 2021 and a second in April 2022. The most recent session featured three women in engineering from Ball Aerospace as guest speakers.
- 13 students from Emerald Elementary School in Broomfield completed our afterschool STEM E3 program in May 2022.
If you would like more information about this program or how a young person of color in your life can participate, please email Marisol Garcia, Racial Justice and Equity Assistant, at mgarcia@ywcaboulder.org.