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Mobilizing Cities to Support STEM

Summary: 
When students excel in math and science—when they see themselves as the builders, programmers, discoverers and inventors of our future—they help America compete for jobs and industries of the future. To make that happen, it’s important to inspire more kids to get excited about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

When students excel in math and science—when they see themselves as the builders, programmers, discoverers and inventors of our future—they help America compete for jobs and industries of the future.  To make that happen, it’s important to inspire more kids to get excited about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Recognizing that building awareness at the local level is critical to this effort, US2020, an independent initiative unveiled during this year’s White House Science Fair in support of the Administration’s Tech Inclusion efforts, has launched a competition that challenges cities across the country to use their convening power to bring together schools, non-profits, and private-sector and community leaders to spark mentoring movements within local communities.

US2020 is a coalition of education nonprofits and U.S. technology companies that aims to make mentoring the new normal in the STEM professions, just as pro-bono work is common in the legal profession.  Specifically, participating companies are committing to have 20 percent of their STEM employees engage in at least 20 hours a year of mentoring or teaching by the year 2020, with the long-term goal of mobilizing 1 million STEM mentors annually by the year 2020.

You can learn more here about the competition and the resources that US2020 aims to provide to participating cities.

By providing mentors who can serve as positive role models, describe what it’s really like to work in science and technology, and help connect youth to internships and jobs, US2020 is just one promising outcome of this Administration’s call for an “all hands on deck” effort to spark kids’ imaginations so they see themselves as the inventors of our future.

Learn more about White House initiatives in support of STEM education across the country, and get involved in building America’s future!

Katie Dowd is Senior Advisor at OMB and Kumar Garg is Senior Advisor to the Deputy Director at OSTP