Couragion

College and career readiness has been an important focus of many K-12 systems (especially for those at the secondary levels) for more than a decade, yet many schools and districts struggle with individualized preparation that provides options beyond traditional college pathways. STEM occupations are expected to grow 8.0% between 2019 and 2029, compared with 3.7% for all occupations (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). According to Code.org, nine in ten parents want their child to study CS, and 2020 U.S. labor statistics indicated 1.4 million unfilled CS jobs with only 400,000 new CS graduates to fill them. This data only represents the gap in the U.S., and globally skilled programmers are in high demand. 

Given the opportunities for remote work in STEM careers and the global demands for such positions, we face an alarming deficit of STEM-prepared workers. This deficit can be attributed to a lack of cohesion between educational levels and industry demands and an education system ill-equipped to provide students with a STEM education that prepares them for the demands of the workforce. Students must authentically be moved beyond 21st-century skills, and beyond “college and career ready” in order to meet the demands of the workforce – demands which will need to be met to even enter the playing field. 

On a more localized level, Coloradoans with a bachelor’s degree or higher have the highest employment rate (76.8%). Those with less than a high school diploma are employed at 57.7%, a gap of 19.1%. Colorado also ranks 37th when it comes to racial disparities and putting households of color on pathways to economic prosperity. Since 2015, most apprenticeships are filled by males (only 8% identify as female). Talent equity is necessary for the upskilling and reskilling of an agile workforce, and helping educators and students learn about work through work is a critical component to strengthening local communities and sustaining our economies. 

Additionally, the 2021 Colorado Talent Pipeline Report shows 89% of Tier 1 jobs (living wage benchmark of $25.88+/hour) require post-secondary credentials, and 77% of all jobs require digital or technical skills. Furthermore, 90% of tech jobs are in ten non-tech industries such as advanced manufacturing, financial services, and healthcare, effectively changing tech labor market needs. Those without tech skills will likely be increasingly disadvantaged in labor markets.  

Rural regions in the U.S. face greater challenges in sustaining healthy economies and resilient communities. Young people often leave rural communities and move to urban areas to find employment, lowering local tax bases and straining community infrastructures. COVID-19 drastically increased opportunities for remote work. This, coupled with the shortage of skilled technology professionals due to outmigration, requires changes to the way talent is developed and deployed. Creating a pipeline with sequenced training in students’ formative years that corresponds directly to workforce demands is essential to growing the technology workforce and local economies. “Jobs are seen as the cornerstone of development, and are critical in promoting prosperity, fighting poverty and encouraging peace. This challenge is particularly acute amongst young people; those in the transition from childhood to full independence” (Exploring Youth Entrepreneurship, 2020, p. 4). 

In the U.S., all students' postsecondary plans are used to guide their current academic course registration by what students have learned, shown an interest in, or mastered by 8th grade. Students who have not realized their own strengths or explored STEM careers and their related skills are at a serious disadvantage by the young age of 14, a plight more likely to occur in rural areas and in schools where students are already underrepresented and underserved. Many underrepresented youths who would otherwise succeed in STEM careers and find fulfillment in such positions are often deterred by a lack of role models and mentorship. K-12 students’ inability to readily access information on STEM careers in an engaging way leaves many unaware or with a negative perception of those career opportunities that are possible. Just focusing on skill building without a career context does not attract the underrepresented nor does it resonate with students since they don’t understand the relevance and real-world applicability of the skills. 

MajorClarity’s 2022 K-12 Career & College Readiness (CCR) Benchmark Report also provides the following insights about the timing and content of CCR in the Unites States: 

• Career readiness is still primarily a high school function. 

• Students receive more information about college than other postsecondary pathways. 

• Leadership—especially principals—believe they’re doing better at CCR than students and teachers do. 

• Students have more information about postsecondary options than opportunities to experience them. 

• Interactive career exploration content is critical—but also something that many students lack access to. 

• Aside from post-graduation attainment, CCR data is not always available and rarely delineated. 

• Efficiently managing the annual student academic planning process is one of the top priorities for districts of every type. 

• The largest and smallest districts have the largest CCR scores.

Shifts in economies and impacts of COVID-19 require changes in education and hiring. With a design that addresses various learning styles, language acquisition levels, points of readiness, levels of maturity, and offers full wrap-around services, Couragion develops the talent pipeline while promoting career literacy and exposure to STEM pathways.  

Couragion won Colorado Technology’s Startup of the Year Award for companies under two years of age in 2016, and MindSpark acquired Couragion in 2021. Couragion is an innovator providing STEM career literacy and workforce development solutions for educators, students, and advocates. It is a research-backed, outcomes-driven platform that runs in a web browser with a paid subscription that last an entire academic year. Subscriptions may be based on class size, school size, district size, or customized to fit an educator’s student group. Couragion incorporates cultural and gender-relevant design factors to ensure accessibility to all and improves the perception and awareness of STEM careers with personalized, student-directed career and workforce development experiences.  

Wraparound services facilitate and support student success by supporting educators. Upskilling educators protects students, community health, economies, talent pipelines, teacher retention, and equitable access and opportunity for each student. “Teacher Preparation: One Key to Unlocking the Gate to STEM Literacy,” surmises “that only a thorough familiarity with STEM content will enable a teacher to effectively engage students in STEM learning. All the programs that have successfully improved STEM literacy [for students] have necessarily included preparation of teachers” (Ledbetter, 2012). Allowing educators firsthand insight and knowledge about skills and training required of their students in order to be career and workforce ready is critical, and, according to Ken Kay, President of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the 21st century skills set “is the ticket to economic upward mobility in the new economy” (Gewertz, 2007). 

Couragion also provides an educator companion application that enables educators to track student progress and outcomes data. It provides access to professional learning resources and improves teaching by delivering data-based decision support tools with administrative and classroom-level data. Finally, it provides education data mining and learning analytics to measure the effectiveness of the curriculum and recommend data-driven interventions, adaptations, and improvements to support student learning. 

Couragion helps students in grades 4-12 learn about career options, access diverse role models outside of friends and family, and pursue healthier career paths aligned with their values and interests. Couragion exposes students to careers and workforce skills in an engaging, cost-effective manner while being inclusive to all regardless of place, gender, race, or ethnicity.  

Couragion’s online platform is flexibly designed for 5-30 classroom hours in 30-minute increments, and provides: 

Virtual Career Exploration & Job Shadowing in Grades 4-8: 

• Through an interactive, student-led journey, Couragion builds awareness of the opportunities available to students, expands their career interests, maps relevance of their near-term coursework to career pathways, and facilitates creation of career portfolios. 

• Students engage with relatable role models who mirror a diverse demographic. Students cultivate interests by engaging with curated, personalized content related to their best-fit careers. Schools can customize experiences with hyper-local information that engages the community. 

• Students develop Career Consciousness, Career Literacy, STEM Competencies, and Cross-Disciplinary Awareness. 

• Units are aligned to American School Counselor Association (ASCA), Personalized Learning Plans (PLPs), and International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). 

Pathway Skill Building and Microbadging in Middle and High School (Grades 6-12): 

• Work-based Challenges ensure students are future ready. Students gain practical occupational and employability skills and apply knowledge to solve authentic problems. 

• Challenges better serve underrepresented populations by incorporating: greater purpose of how careers help society and the environment; real-world context with relevant learning tasks; and mastery of career-specific skills. 

• Students learn Applied Computer Science, Data Analytics, and Engineering Skills Development; Occupational and Employability Skills Advancement. 

• Units align with K-12 Computer Science Framework, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), International Technology & Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA), Engineering for US All (E4USA), and American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).  

Couragionʼs career literacy elevates underrepresented role models of which 70% are female and 40% are from communities of color. These near peer, diverse role models spark perceived personal capacity in students and give them the courage to begin their pursuit of a STEM career. After engaging with Couragion, 83% of students found at least one 'best fit' career that is a good match for their interests, values, and desired work characteristics. After experiencing Couragion, student intention to pursue STEM-related careers increases between 6-18%. The research shows intention gains continue to grow with increased exposure to Couragion’s careers and role models. After completing Couragion Career Quests, 81% of students report being motivated to work harder in their STEM classes. 

Underrepresented students are more likely to have a stronger affinity with role models who share their gender and/or cultural identity. When first beginning to explore STEM careers, female students are 4.2 times more likely than males to self-select a role model that is their same gender. Male students of color - when first exploring STEM careers - are nearly two times more likely than white male students to select a role model who mirrors their ethnicity. 

Couragionʼs work-based learning Challenges help students build practical expertise and knowledge as they earn micro-credentials for occupational skills. Couragion measures skill scores and persistence. Data shows that (a) 79% of students feel more confident to pursue STEM careers after learning skills, (b) 72% of students enjoyed learning the skills, and (c) 75% of students are motivated to do better in STEM after completing the Challenges. 

Couragion brings programming directly into the classroom that inspires students to pursue STEM competency building. A variety of career exploration pathways build confidence and knowledge about STEM careers - not just in computer science, but in advanced manufacturing, information technology, finance, and health as well. 

Couragion serves all students in grades 4-12. MindSpark has a special interest in supporting rural regions and schools whose populations have been traditionally underrepresented and underserved for myriad reasons. 

Young people often leave rural communities and move to urban areas to find employment, lowering local tax bases and straining community infrastructures. COVID-19 drastically increased opportunities for remote work. This, coupled with the shortage of skilled technology professionals due to outmigration, requires changes to the way talent is developed and deployed. Couragion’s use over time will improve the perception of who can succeed in STEM careers and upskill students with skills required by the modern workforce. Exposing students to remote job opportunities in high-demand STEM fields helps them paint a unique vision for their futures – one that they would not experience without the career literacy and insight afforded by Couragion. Creating a pipeline with sequenced training in students’ formative years that corresponds directly to workforce demands is essential to growing the STEM workforce and local economies, providing impacts that MindSpark and its partners value.  

This solution supports grade 6-12 students and educators as they work to gain skills, confidence, and equitable access to innovative technology, computer science, and career-connect learning pathways in STEM.

The MindSpark Learning team is passionate about transforming education while supporting educators because so many team members are former K-12 educators. Over half of MindSpark Learning’s staff have served in public and private schools in various roles that include campus security monitor, building secretary, bookkeeper, teacher, counselor, instructional coach, STEM Coordinator, dean, assistant principal, and principal. Others have served in the U.S. military and worked in the private sector for a variety of industries, so we’ve seen firsthand the struggles of education systems to prepare students to be workforce ready, as well as the demands of the workforce itself from internal point of reference. 

The MindSpark team prides itself on its proximity to the communities and school systems we serve. Close partnerships with the Colorado Workforce Development Council, Colorado Succeeds, and over 650 industry partners nationwide provide honest insight into the needs of local and national workforce demands, the skills STEM jobs require, and the gaps industries are facing. Additionally, our work to upskill educators and school systems to align with industry demands places us in a unique position to understand the needs of local communities and impact educators, students, and employers, resulting in healthier, more resilient communities and strengthened economies. 

In 2019, MindSpark Learning and Couragion partnered to create STEMpath, our 24-credit graduate-level Computer Science (CS) certification program. Since its launch in 2019, STEMpath remains one of our most coveted professional learning offerings, proven to boost the capability and diversity of STEM and CS teachers, and increase the number of students ready to pursue STEM careers. MindSpark’s acquisition of Couragion in 2021 helps MindSpark Learning further revolutionize our professional learning experiences with modern workforce development and career literacy solutions. MindSpark's workforce literacy resources and authentic professional development experiences complement Couragion’s curriculum in a way that will provide low-cost options for teachers to pilot innovative lessons in authentic classroom settings.  

Couragion provides STEM career literacy and workforce development solutions for educators, students, and advocates. With intentional impact-first methods to encourage the participation of underrepresented students, Couragion advances student intention, motivation and confidence rates to pursue rewarding career pathways. 

In moving beyond proximity to our clients and their perspectives, here’s how Couragion supports our “why”: 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion:  

Couragion elevates diverse role models to build awareness of what’s possible and has demonstrated outcomes serving underrepresented and highly-impacted students. 70% of Couragion role models are female and 40% are from communities of color. The experiences are virtual and accessible to all users. Couragion’s design inherently examines bias and assumptions while providing access to robust career pathways.  

Workforce Literacy:  

Couragion nurtures ongoing, mutually beneficial relationships with industry partners to highlight role models and the jobs of today and tomorrow. Couragion is a key resource to directly support the early exposure and continued immersion in what is the future of work and the workforce. MindSpark works closely with educators to upskilled them to understand labor market needs and students are enlightened about potential career pathways and opportunities.  

Resilient and Healthy Communities:  

Couragion layers onto MindSpark’s work with intentional outcomes, activities, and immersion in occupational identities. From inception, Couragion has focused on exploring self-awareness and aspirations, capturing student voice, cultivating motivation-confidence-intention metrics for STEM career pathways, and analyzing key performance indicators to prove a broader impact is being achieved. All of this contributes to building healthy occupational identities for students. 

Disruptive Practices:  

Couragion exemplifies disruption as an exemplar platform that is different from other career awareness and readiness tools. Couragion models systems thinking, sees problems as opportunities, doesn’t accept the status quo or complacency, and celebrates change.  

MindSpark Learning works with educators and administrators, industry partners, and communities to reengineer education into a high-impact sector that solves society’s biggest challenges. Our combined teams and Couragion’s technology platform will offer our customers and partners more uniquely designed, accessible and equitable solutions on a global scale. We understand that disruption is a process, and we work with each school system to engage in the disruption as they define it. MindSpark staff is prepared to engage with clients on a local, national, or global scale, and in person, remotely, or as a combination of both. 

Joining this MIT-backed network would help MindSpark Learning further revolutionize our professional learning experiences with modern workforce development and career literacy solutions. While receiving funding will help to expand programmatic offerings and impact engagement with Couragion in schools, MindSpark also seeks a social return on investment to impact educators, students, industries, communities, and local economies on a greater scale.  It is our belief that education can be leveraged to solve the world’s greatest challenges, and that career literacy in STEM will bridge the nation’s education, skill, and labor gaps. The mentorship, networking, exposure, and impact measuring practices would all be beneficial to MindSpark’s goals for scaling and impact with the Couragion tool. MSL would be honored and eager to learn alongside the members of this network!

Couragion provides a catalytic experience for its end-user, and for that of educators working with students to develop career literacy and discover their strengths as they relate to career pathways. Inclusive, work-based learning experiences guide students through a comprehensive process of learning about, choosing, and interacting with different STEM careers. This introduces them to opportunities they can explore in the future, while teaching them the skills they need to succeed. 

Couragion’s unique experience focuses on equity and broadening participation in STEM fields. Couragion:  

• Helps students learn about STEM careers through videos, games, quizzes, and self-reflection   

• Assists students in finding careers that best align to their values, interests, and desired work characteristics   

• Provides personal learning plans to enable students to further explore and build skills for their best-fit careers   

• Offers a companion educator experience that supports teacher professional development and student coaching by providing lesson plans, real-time data feedback about students’ aspirations. Such feedback may be used to responsively tailor courses or future instruction based on student needs. 

A World Development Report from 2012 posited the enormous challenge that would exist over a 15-year period: youth in transition from childhood to independence will require jobs in the amount of 600 million in order to keep employment rates constant. This projection points to 2027 as the year for addressing this worldwide issue that looms over us in the coming five years. To help address this, MindSpark hopes to increase the scalability of our Couragion tool by 770 participants within the next fiscal year to help build a strong pipeline of future STEM-related careers in conjunction with our strategic partners.  

Thus far, Couragion has reached over 11,400 users in the past 8 years, with almost 57% self-identifying as an ethnicity other than White. 

The statistically forecasted average number of end-users for the coming year is 1,100. To forecast conservatively, we propose reducing this by 30%, which yields 770 new participants per year, adding a 10% projected increase for the first year (and 15% thereafter), for a total of 4,999 end-users within a five-year period (see Table 1). Additionally, we will continue serving individuals who identify as female and non-white as the majority of our clientele, with a focus on increasing usage with all grade levels outside of middle school to help mitigate the current overrepresentation in middle school grade (see Image 1). We will accomplish this though a national, comprehensive marketing campaign and through increased strategic partnerships in education and industry.   

Table 1: Projected growth of the Couragion application: New users. 

Image 1: Middle School participants account for the majority of participants during the past 3 years.

Research shows the most important time periods to affect youth to be in the formative years when gender-based attitudes towards STEM fields are first created (Master, Meltzoff, & Cheryan 2021) and when students are closer to deciding how and when to enter the workforce (D’Amico et al., 2019). As shown in Image 2, MindSpark’s aggregated usage for girls mirrors this strategy to ensure mindsets are disrupted at just the right time and reestablished yet again before deciding to choose a career path.  

Image 2: Female representation by grade level.

MindSpark integrates the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with an alignment of our proprietary SPARK framework (S = sustained transformation, P = partnerships forged, A = all succeed, R = recruitment and retention, and K = kinetic). Regarding the usage of Couragion, MindSpark proposes the following SDGs for measurement purposes: 

Goal #4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 

• Giving access to corporate environments during school years, instilling the importance of learning through play, with continuous learning to improve skills.  

• Couragion is redefining who can succeed in STEM and positively moving the needle to improve the awareness and perception of careers that require STEM skills and competencies. With a focus on the underrepresented, we currently serve a population who is 57% students of color and 59% female.

• Metrics: (1) Diverse student involvement has increased as a result of my participation in this learning experience. (Under “All Succeed,” scored from 1 to 5, with 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.) (2) This learning experience gave me ideas about how to positively transform and expand my work. (Under “Sustained Transformation,” scored from 1 to 5, with 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.) 

Goal #5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 

• An investment in Couragion is an investment in a woman-owned and women-led social enterprise which focuses on increasing girls’ access to STEM careers and female teachers and industry role models. 

• At a middle school where 79% are students of color and 74% are eligible for free or reduced lunch, the research team found that female students using Couragion were 4 times more likely than males to select a role model of the same gender. 

• Metric: (1) After my time with MindSpark, I can devise inclusive frameworks for STEM to engage all stakeholders involved. (Under “All Succeed,” scored from 1 to 5, with 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.) 

Goal #10: Reduce inequality within and among countries 

• Regenerating underserved geographic areas.  

• Couragion pledges to advance teacher capacity to improve the quality & access of STEM & computer science education by teaming with MindSpark Learning on STEMpath - our transformational educator professional learning experience.  

• Metrics: (1) I feel less isolated being part of the MSL community. (2) This learning experience gave me the ability to partner with community members who will help sustain this work. (Under “Partnerships Forged,” scored from 1 to 5, with 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.) 

Additional Couragion Stats: 

• According to data collected from the 2020-2021 school year from one community college, students recorded a 98% average intent to pursue a STEM career, and among Explorers (students who have completed at least one Couragion Quest), 90% recorded that they had found at least one best fit career match.  

• From 2021 to 2022, female representation increased by over 9 percentage points (49.70% to 58.82%). 

• From 2015 to 2022, students’ overall average intent to pursue a STEM-related career increased by 9 points after completing 8 quests in Couragion (from 60 to 69, where intent is measured from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating higher intent).  

• From 2015 to 2022, intent to pursue a STEM-related career after 8 quests was nearly 70% higher for females than males when compared to initial intent after registration. 

• From 2015 to 2022, Native and Indigenous students using Couragion  showed up to 2.6 times increased intent to pursue a STEM-related career than their counterparts after completing 8 quests (see Image 3). 

Image 3: Calculated changes in students’ intent to pursue a STEM career by ethnicity. 

Couragion’s technical product portfolio incorporates four innovation paths – perceived personal capacity, reflection, continuity, and persistence. 

1. Perceived personal capacity focuses on helping a student to envision themselves in a STEM career by not only showing them the existence of such careers but by showcasing role models that mirror the students’ demographics through immersive, multimedia experiences. 
2. Reflection refers to Couragion’s ability to progressively profile students while providing them just-in-time points of self-reflection and self-evaluation to increase the learning effectiveness. Couragion gathers a set of occupation-specific preferences which when combined with the occupation-agnostic preferences feed the ʻBest Fitʼ algorithm. 
3. Continuity is focused on providing students ongoing STEM content related to their career preferences. ʻBest Fitʼ notifications indicate that the career that was explored matched students' personal preferences and encourage students to continue the exploration and potential pursuit of such careers. This personalized, continuous encouragement and nudging maintain student interest levels and boost student preparedness to pursue STEM degrees and/or careers. 
4. Persistence uses big data to uncover the future workforce’s preferences around work and value characteristics to assist business and education entities with attracting and retaining talent. Data visualizations are the technology component that fuel the workforce analytics.

Couragion’s platform is a set of web applications utilizing responsive design techniques and Angular JS on the client side, and C# and ASP.NET on the server side. Our applications and databases are hosted on Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, with distinct App Service and SQL Database instances corresponding to staging and production environments.

At MindSpark, we don’t treat diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as a silo or a program that checks a box. We fundamentally layer it into the way we hire, what we value culturally, how decisions are made, and how we evaluate our leaders and each other. We embrace resiliency, gratitude, and compassion as imperatives to lead with a ‘people first’ mentality.  

We are a community who works hard and loves hard. Resemblant of a family, there is conflict, discourse, celebration, and humility. Bias and assumption are pieces to be uncovered, examined, and shared, and we embrace failure as learning. Our values are catalysts for our DEI work both internally and externally while working globally to make the invisible visible.  

MindSpark’s DEI values guide our daily practice: 

Approach to Thinking: Think like a scientist. Complexify contentious topics. Reinforce freedom of choice.  

Communication: Practice the art of persuasive listening. Question how rather than why. Have a conversation about the conversation. 

Operations: Define identity in terms of values, not opinions. Seek information from opposing views. Build a challenge network, not just a support network. Establish psychological safety.  

Leadership: Form allyships with movements that put people, planet, and prosperity first. Diversify the number of partners serving equally diverse communities by 15% each year. Hire for culture contribution with a strong inclusion lens. Increase engagement with employees and clients annually by 25%. 

Staff: Vet power asymmetry as a means for inquiry. Hold each other accountable with a balance of freedom and responsibility. Invest in inclusive recruiting and onboarding practices. Inclusive performance management brings visible recognition and empathy. 

Human Resources: Allow flexible work hours and a gender-blind parental leave policy. Provide ergonomic and collaborative workspaces that curate a sense of belonging. Ensure job descriptions and hiring protocols use gender-neutral language. 

Other : 

• Women currently make up 60% of our workforce and 67% of our leadership level.  
• The number of employees who identify as a person of color has increased in the last year by 250%, representing 32% of our workforce and 17% of our leadership.
• MSL is female-founded, female-led, and the chairman of the MSL board is a vocal leader and advocate in the LGTBQ community. 

Education is the greatest and most foundational problem-solving mechanism that exists in society. MindSpark programs deliver extraordinary professional learning experiences for educators, the community, and industry partners who then take their new skills back to the classroom and beyond. Since 2017, MindSpark has impacted over 35,000 professionals and 1,000,000 students, and built meaningful relationships with over 650 industry and community partners. MindSpark has served all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and 88 countries, bridging the most highly-impacted areas to leading-edge regions of the world. Professional learning is delivered in-person or remotely and tailored to fit the unique needs and circumstances of organizations and individual participants. Funding support enables MindSpark to provide services at little-to-no-cost to schools and educators. 

MindSpark Learning believes that education is the greatest lever to solving the world’s biggest challenges. MindSpark energizes and galvanizes people to solve problems by focusing on: 

• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion 

• Resilient & Healthy Communities 

• Disruptive Practices 

• Workforce & Talent Development 

Programatically, MindSpark works closely to co-design and implement professional learning for education systems, which include districts, schools, cohorts, and individual educators from public, private, and charter sectors. As stated in the Every Student Succeeds Act, research has found that empowering educators with new skills leads to “continuous improvement of outcomes for students.” When students have equitable access to education that prepares them to be future leaders in the workforce, the income and wealth gap becomes a relic of the past. 

MindSpark Learning’s programs disrupt the thinking and standard operations of a system to bring about meaningful, sustainable changes that permeate to the community and beyond to build wellness and resilience. Fostering and maintaining partnerships with industry, higher education, and community organizations is a central component of the impact goals for each of the organizations with whom MSL engages. 

Professional learning opportunities are grounded in the following values: 

• Equity-Centered Design Thinking - Our proven programs result in an 83% decrease in performance gaps for all populations. We make the invisible visible. Participants learn to integrate equitable and accessible methods,  building empathetic bridges, not just safety nets. 

• Problem-Based Learning and STEM - Our efforts have resulted in over 25 patents and 3,000 student externships. Educators learn to solve real-world, open-ended problems in an iterative manner, applying transdisciplinary viewpoints that benefit the economic collective. 

• Social Emotional Intelligence - After engaging with us, 95% of our clients felt supported and connected to our community. Participants have the opportunity to become courageous enablers, gaining a healthy identity, and making responsible and caring decisions. 

• Entrepreneurial Mindset - 97% of clients report making a positive impact on their organization as a whole. Participants become future-focused and resilient, making the most of opportunities, overcoming setbacks, and succeeding in a variety of settings. 

• Workforce Literacy - We join forces with over 650 industry and community partners. Clients gain clear next steps to collaborate with such organizations and become skilled to lead future-ready programs, connecting labor market needs to the classroom. 

• Innovation Attitude - Each client recruits 25 colleagues to join them on the innovation journey. Participants learn to lean into the unknown and then discover from the known, breaking down the old rules of thought and creating new ones, flexing agility muscles.

MindSpark Learning (EIN: 47-4615131) is operationally funded by Morgridge Family Foundation. Additional funding from grants, foundations, corporate sponsors, and individual donors allows MSL to engage in strategic, transformative work with entire districts, public, private and charter schools, and individual teachers. MindSpark prefers to work directly in schools and face-to-face with teachers and their school community; however, with the onset of COVID-19 and the resulting school closures, virtual learning platforms have become more prevalent and allowed MindSpark to engage with thousands more educators across the globe. All of this was free to educators during this time as a result of support from generous sponsors. Fundraising is an ongoing effort to support the implementation and scaling of all MSL programs. 

MindSpark Learning was recently awarded the following grants:

• The Anschutz Foundation - $50,000 for an Education Accelerator in the Denver Metro Area
• Gianforte Family Foundation - $46,700 for Computer Science Professional Learning in rural Montana schools
• OtterCares - $23,000 for ProjectHeart
• OtterCares - $10,000 for reSOLVE for Colorado educators
• OtterCares - $60,000 for Education Accelerator & entrepreneurial mindsets for rural northern Colorado schools
• Ascend Action and Fellowship Impact Fund - $75,000 for work in equity and technology to support educators and families on Native American lands in South Dakota

An additional award of $10,000,000 was made by the Morgridge Family Foundation. This award will be paid incrementally over the next five years to cover operating costs and support MindSpark's efforts to transform education. This award marks the fifth anniversary of MindSpark Learning.

Ongoing efforts are made to cultivate donors from multiple funding pipelines. Financial supports is also provided by 100% of MSL's Board of Directors and by 100% of its employees on an annual basis. Other grant applications are in progress for each of MSL's program offerings.