Summer is here, and we are pleased to share with you a lot of great updates, a brand new podcast episode, a link to view our June 28 Watch Party, and some great resources shared by our core partners.
Please share this newsletter with your friends and colleagues.
Newsletter at a Glance - Featured Stories
- The sySTEM Impacted Podcast
- STEM-OPS Blog
- STEM-OPS Core Partner Updates
- STEM-OPS Network “In the News”
- Upcoming Events and Opportunities
- Resources Recommended by STEM-OPS Core Partners
- Job Openings
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Pell Reinstatement After 30 years of hard and focused work, Pell Reinstatement is a reality! Thanks to the tremendous work and heavy lift of partners who continually support the importance of education for all people. Learn more about what the U.S. Department of Education is implementing.
STEM-OPS Watch Party and Discussion Panel Over 140 people registered to attend this event and listen to experts discuss the importance of opening access and opportunity in education and workforce development to justice-involved people. We thank our panel experts for allowing us to show the video of the April Live Roundtable Discussion in Washington, DC, and our returning and newly invited subject matter experts who took part in the June discussion. View the event page for information on those who participated, and please watch the event video and share it with your community. |
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| The sySTEM Impacted Podcast |
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Our podcast recently passed its 500th download!!!
The sySTEM Impacted podcast, hosted by Chris Etienne of Princeton's Prison Teaching Initiative (PTI), shares stories of system-impacted people’s successes and struggles related to accessing STEM education and careers. |
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In Episode 5, Perspectives from Justice Impacted Scholars and Professionals (Part 2), Chris dives into the story of incarcerated Muslim American scholar Adham El-Sherbeini, who discusses his experiences with the American culture in school and the support systems and influences that prompted him to embark on his journey from incarceration to education and beyond. Adham identifies the challenges that justice-impacted people encounter on their educational and professional journeys and offers insight into strategies that can be implemented to make the STEM field more accessible and inclusive to justice-impacted people. |
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Terrell Blount, formerly incarcerated leader of FICGN and keynote speaker, shares his lived experiences and how they relate to the ideas behind the designation of April in the U.S. as Second Chance Month. Read more …
While we tend to know “STEM” as the traditional “science, technology, engineering, and math” disciplines, it covers much more, and this blog post explains why STEM-OPS finds it important that justice-impacted people are given access to a wider range of these “STEM” careers. Read more …
We have a lot more content on the way, so make sure to check our blog on the STEM-OPS website often!! |
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| STEM-OPS Core Partner Updates |
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Operation Restoration (OR) Mellon Foundation Grant OR has received a grant from The Mellon Foundation! The Foundation has announced over $5 million in grantmaking to seven colleges, universities, and other organizations as part of the Foundation’s commitment to expanding opportunities and increasing resources for higher education in carceral environments. |
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Juneteenth and Giving Back To commemorate Juneteenth and celebrate freedom, OR’s staff gave back to the community by distributing a hot meal, clothing, and other resources to homeless persons and other Central City New Orleans residents. |
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A Visit to the Horizons Conference Syrita Steib, OR; Alexa Garza, EdTrust; and Dr. Topeka Sam, Ladies of Hope Ministries, discussed their experiences and advocacy as women leaders at the recent Jobs for the Future (JFF)-hosted Horizons Conference in New Orleans. They empowered the audience for systems change focused on meaningful and sustainable education and workforce opportunities.
A Powerhouse Woman |
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New Graduates On July 7, nine women graduated as the fourth cohort of the Lab Assistant program's Rapid Reskilling Component, which brings the total graduates to 56. Check out this Instagram reel of the event! |
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From Prison Cells to PhD | Prison to Professionals (P2P) More STEM-OPS Involvement at the Horizons Conference The P2P Leadership team headed to New Orleans for the Jobs for the Future Horizons Conference that focused on pathways and solutions to provide equitable and sustainable workforce opportunities for all people. One featured presentation was by Jessica Snow, of Flikshop and P2P, whose incubator idea brings VR goggles into the prison system, which will allow people to transition and see what it looks like outside to prepare for housing, transportation, and employment during reentry. |
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P2P Image Montage from the JFF Horizons Conference |
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Commencement Address Dr. Stanley Andrisse (P2P) had the honor and privilege to deliver the address for the 229th #commencement for Union College and was awarded an honorary doctorate degree, Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa. He continued to deliver his message, It is Never Too Late to Do Good. Congrats Grads! Thanks Pres. David Harris. |
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P2P and Light To Life Tenaj Moody & Mancy Thompson attended Light To Life’s New Partnership at Maryland Correctional Institution for Women with P2P. |
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The P2P Womxn's cohort, in partnership with Light To Life, provides virtual workshops, interactive activities, circles and challenges to 500+ womxn nationally that are survivor-centered with healing justice approaches in the movement to support justice-impacted womxn and survivors of gender-based violence. Learn more ... |
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Bring Your Daughter to Work Day Bridges to Baccalaureate Scholar Jacob Maynard works in the lab as a research fellow at Howard University. On his very first day, Dr. Stanley Andrisse’s daughter, Ashlynn, came in to observe and ensure quality control. What a great picture! |
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Princeton University’s Prison Teaching Initiative (PTI) Summer Internships PTI is thrilled to be supporting six incredible formerly incarcerated undergraduate scholars at Princeton this summer in a variety of internships, including four in computational biology.
Etienne Presents at RRJ's JumpStart Conference Chris Etienne presented at the RRJ JumpStart conference (see RRJ's update below). His session was titled Teaching and Learning in Prison Contexts and was about how punitive disciplinary practices are an ongoing issue impacting students of color and effectively fostering disengagement in urban classrooms. Roughly 11 million instructional days are lost to out-of-school suspensions each year; this number becomes even more troubling when considering that these disciplinary practices place students on a trajectory toward incarceration. In this presentation, Chris argued that punitive disciplinary practices do not simply increase a student's likelihood of incarceration; they groom students for prison by mirroring models enforced by the Department of Corrections.
PTI Potpourri Read these recent articles on what PTI is working on:
Initiative for Race Research and Justice, Vanderbilt University (RRJ) JumpStart Conference a Success RRJ has just hosted its fourth JumpStart Virtual Conference for educators on Tuesday, July 25. RRJ’s work is organized around three main focal areas: (1) conducting high-quality research on race; (2) using new and expanded knowledge to improve practices, policies, society, and the overall human condition; and (3) sharing and disseminating knowledge, resources, and tools in collaboration with communities, organizations, and institutions for racial justice. Check out the Keynote Speakers flyer.
Dr. Milner's New Book
Education Development Center (EDC) INCLUDES National Network Convening The EDC STEM-OPS team is preparing to attend the INCLUDES National Network Convening conference in Washington DC August 3–4, 2023. Members from each Alliance will participate in workshops and interactive sessions that build on the themes and outcomes from the 2022 Alliance Collective Convening in Arizona. Through peer learning sessions, engaging plenaries and panel discussions, and interactive workshops, members of the INCLUDES National Network will have opportunities to share with and learn from their peers, from NSF and other federal agency representatives, from the INCLUDES Coordination Hub, and from the students and participants most directly affected by our work. STEM-OPS is the only program that focuses specifically on providing the necessary tools, support, and education and workforce development opportunities for justice-involved people.
Badertscher Featured on #MarcusAsks STEM-OPS PI Eden Badertscher was featured in a recent episode of the live Instagram show #MarcusAsks (hosted by Marcus Bullock of Flikshop) to discuss the importance of STEM education in prison settings. See all Flikshop videos here.
EDC and Equity EDC has information on its website about the importance of equity in the organization. |
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RTI International Supporting Literacy and Health RTI had the honor of partnering with the Transformation Life Center (@tlc_nash) by providing food for an event supporting the literacy proficiency and physical health of Black boys. RTI loves serving and supporting their local #Nashville partners! |
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| STEM-OPS Network "in the News" |
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| Upcoming Events and Opportunities |
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| Resources Recommended by STEM-OPS Core Partners |
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ALSO, FICGN welcomes job posts from other organizations on their website. If you’d like to add a job there, use this link to their job board. |
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*** REQUEST FOR YOUR FEEDBACK: STEM-OPS is striving to improve and provide quality information and resources that demonstrate our commitment to our mission—providing access to all people to STEM education and workforce development. How can we do better? Send us feedback about this newsletter by taking this survey.
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If you have any comments or questions about this newsletter, please email info@stem-ops.org. |
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