The summer is here, and our teams have been busy traveling, presenting, and teaching the importance of STEM education all across the country! Check out our recently posted podcast on Energy and Environmental Justice. Read about our STEM-OPS retreat and how our efforts translate into other spaces to understand and open access to all people who are wanting to achieve their fullest potential in education and career development. |
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Registration for the 2022 STEM-OPS Annual Convening is opening soon. This gathering will be held October 25–27, 2022, in St. Louis, MO, at the Marriott St. Louis Grand hotel. The 2.5-day event will feature speakers, panels, research, interactive presentations, and peer-to-peer discussions for people who share our mission—to expand access to STEM education and careers to people impacted by incarceration.
Look for a STEM-OPS News Bite in your inbox within the next 3 weeks with more information and a link to register. Until then, click here to learn more! |
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| The sySTEM Impacted Podcast |
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The sySTEM Impacted podcast, led by Chris Etienne (PTI) and Terrell Blount (EDC), shares stories of system-impacted people’s successes and struggles related to accessing STEM education and careers. |
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Energy and Environmental Justice Our third podcast episode explores energy and environmental justice with Operation Fuel’s Executive Director Brenda Watson, who is elevating awareness as well as challenging the structural causes of home energy affordability. Watson’s professional career spans 20 years in the areas of energy affordability, transportation planning, municipal government, and community organizing.
The financial burden that low-income communities and communities of color face when it comes to energy consumption is indeed a societal issue, not one that is specific to that community. It is up to lawmakers and people no matter where they land in the social strata, to make informed, sound policy and advocacy decisions that improve the lives of those who are disadvantaged if our goal is to move toward a more just society.
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STEM-OPS Working Groups Retreat to DC for Collaboration and Fellowship |
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2022 Horizons Summit: Leading Today for Tomorrow Thought leaders, innovators, and changemakers from across sectors gathered in New Orleans June 6–8, 2022, to answer this question: How do we see beyond our current systems and transform them to ensure equitable economic advancement for all? Leaders from Operation Restoration, P2P, EdTrust and EDC joined this summit to help promote the importance of STEM education and workforce opportunity to system impacted people. The answer ... |
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"If we intentionally dismantle the racism and bias in the education and workforce systems, use technology to center learners and workers, and create holistic supports that recognize that most students are “nontraditional” students, then 'the galaxy is the limit' to what we can do." —Keynote speaker and author Heather McGhee |
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Mancy Thompson (P2P); Maria Flynn (Jobs For the Future) Basia Skudrzyk (P2P); Dr. Stanley Andrisse (P2P). |
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Syrita Steib (Operation Restoration; far left) & Dr. Stanley Andrisse (far right) on a panel discussing the importance of implementation of Pell Restoration. |
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Larry Miller (NIKE brand executive) and Dr. Stanley Andrisse exchanging recently published books. |
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System impacted leaders coming and working together for the Pell Restoration Meeting. |
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The Ronald Reagan Institute Drs. Stanley Andrisse (P2P) and Noel Vest (Stanford University) attended the Ronald Reagan Institute in Washington, DC, in May with William Freeman (P2P) and Terrell Blount (EDC) as panelists to discuss the importance of supporting education in prison systems. Guess who stole the show? |
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Dr. Stanley Andrisse with his son, William Andrisse. |
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William Freeman (P2P) and Dr. Noel Vest (Stanford University) |
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Dr. Noel Vest and Terrell Blount (EDC) |
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Operation Restoration The U.S. Department of Education is expanding its Second Chance Pell Program to include incarcerated students in 2022. In partnership with Tulane University, Operation Restoration will be ready to help those students navigate the process. Learn more.
Prisons to Professional (P2P) P2P is continuing to work with the Transition Center of St. Louis (TCSTL) in Missouri. Team members began in July to work with people in transition and to help returning citizens identify career opportunities in STEM. Missouri Senator Brian Williams has helped secure funding into University of Missouri St. Louis and the North County area to help expand workforce development efforts and education to all people. Together, they are building a pipeline to employment with University of Missouri, St. Louis leadership and the community to help support transition and open access to people who can achieve their potential given the right support network and services.
P2P recently held its 6th Virtual Job Fair for its scholars. Community employers included Fidelity Investments, Free World, Houston Community College, Opportunity @Work, Oregon Social Learning Center, and Vera Institute.
Princeton Teaching Initiative (PTI) On June 30, Chris Etienne participated in a panel about the Ecologies of Justice, which focuses on justice-impacted people becoming more environmentally aware. Check out the panel recording.
Initiative for Race Research and Justice, Vanderbilt University
Education Development Center (EDC) On June 30, Eden Badertscher (STEM-OPS PI) and other EDC staff led the webinar “Developing the Next Generation of Talent: Perspectives from the Field on Equity and the Future of Work,” which discussed the recent report by the same title. Learn more about the report, and view webinar slides. EDC also recently published To Understand Society, We Need to Look at Data, a blog post that describes a current National Science Foundation-funded project that challenges high school students to analyze real data to investigate social and economic conditions in the United States. |
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| Resources Recommended by STEM-OPS Core Partners |
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BOOK: JUMP, by Larry Miller One of the most successful Black businessmen in the country, who has led Nike’s Jordan Brand from a $200M sneaker company to a $4B global apparel juggernaut, tells the remarkable story of his rise from gangland violence to the pinnacles of international business. |
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