Apply to Join YWI Dream STEM Lead
Interested in entrepreneurship, social justice, and STEM careers? This is your opportunity to harness your passion while building relationships through mentorship and project-based learning.
Young Black, Indigenous, and women of color interested in social justice and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), ages 16 to 24, are invited to apply to join YWI Dream STEM Lead, a national six-week project-based, hands-on, intensive virtual mentorship program. For more information about the program and how to apply, view the informational webinar slides here. Applications are now open and the application deadline is Thursday, September 16, 2021, at 11:59 p.m.
The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, Best Buy, and uCodeGirl are working in partnership to host YWI Dream STEM Lead, a six-week virtual and tech-centered entrepreneurial experience for 200 young women of color, ages 16 to 24. Through YWI Dream STEM Lead, a program initiated by young women for young women, participants will build leadership skills through relationships and mentorships, receive support to increase pathways to STEM careers resulting in a BestBuy participant certification, and increase awareness of their own potential to advance STEM solutions.
During the program, participants will generate ideas to solve socioeconomic problems in their communities using technology. With the assistance of women in STEM as professional mentors, participants will work in teams to design, prototype, and test solutions for the problems they identify that are relevant to them and their communities. The program combines the foundational concepts of software design, leadership traits, entrepreneurship, and the important work of social justice. Participants will gain 21st century skills such as critical thinking, communication, creative problem solving, and collaboration, all important skills in today’s digital workforce.
The program will meet virtually on Tuesday evenings, from September to November 2021. Participants will receive a one-time $300 stipend at the conclusion of the program and will have access to STEM networking and opportunities with mentors. The program is designed for Black, Indigenous, and women of color, ages 16 to 24, including those who identify with one or more of the following communities: Black/African American, African Immigrant, American Indian, Hispanic/Latina and Asian/Pacific Islander. Black, Indigenous, and young women of color who live in rural areas, identify as LGBTQ+, and live with a disability are highly encouraged to apply. U.S. citizenship is not required. Our definition of a young woman includes anyone who identifies as a woman, inclusive of transgender, gender nonconforming, gender nonbinary, and all gender-expansive people who experience gender-based structural harm.
The YWI Dream STEM Lead collaborative was designed to increase young women in STEM and mid- to high-wage fields and to harness the power of young women who are already leading in social justice. YWI Dream STEM Lead was designed with the input of WFMN’s Young Women’s Cabinet to meet the immediate and long-term needs of youth participants in increasing pathways to STEM careers.
