Join Emerging Women Excelling in Leadership & STEM

The need to support a pathway to development of a diverse pool of STEM talent and reach underrepresented groups cannot be overstated. Women, African Americans, and Hispanics have long been underrepresented in STEM fields. A 2020-21 Iowa STEM Evaluation Report stated: “Among all students statewide by gender, female interest in a STEM career has a steady rate of decline from an average of 29% of females in Grades 3-5 who indicated they were ‘very interested’ in STEM, to 25% of females in Grades 6-8, and 23% of females in Grades 9-11.” The report went on to say, “[t]he proportion of students who are ‘very interested’ in STEM careers is higher among students who are Black/African American, Hispanic, or Asian compared to White in grades 3-6 . . . the proportion of Black/African American students who are ‘very interested’ starts high at 44% in Grade 3 yet declines to 28% in Grade 11 (a net loss of -16) . . . .”  These statistics show the importance of keeping young Black women interested in STEM.

Research suggests STEM skills are increasingly important for all career paths and are key to employment and prosperity. Yet only 20% of new college students are ready for courses typically required for a STEM major (Committee on STEM, 2018). In recent years, the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have received much attention for their critical role in maintaining our nation’s competitive edge in the global economy. However, STEM education in the United States is still lacking. Many businesses and academic and policy leaders assert this weakness has contributed to national science and engineering workforce shortages. And, like the nation, unemployment in STEM occupations in Iowa is low. In Iowa, STEM field jobs, including IT, health care, and more are growing at a faster pace than non-STEM jobs. Between 2017 and 2027, STEM jobs are expected to grow 10% (only 7% of non-STEM jobs). More specifically, computer jobs will grow 13%, engineering jobs will grow 11%, and advanced manufacturing jobs will grow 15% (Education Committee, 2019). Median earnings for Iowa STEM jobs are $32.98/hour while the median earnings in all other Iowa jobs are $17.42/hour.

In-depth, applied learning experiences are often provided inconsistently across the public school system, with students in low-income neighborhoods often having fewer opportunities in comparison to their high-income peers. Jewels Academy offers extra-curricular academic activities that aren’t restricted by zip code. Accessible afterschool and summer programs play key roles in promoting STEM learning during the non-school hours. The Academic Competitiveness Council and National Science Board (NSB) were tasked with reviewing the effectiveness of federally funded STEM education programs. The councils reported that informal education is “one of the three integral parts of the U.S. education system and the other two being K-12 and higher education (Bell, Lewenstein, Shouse, & Feder, 2009, pg. 13). Our program exposes girls and their parents to various STEM careers early in childhood for the purpose of preparing them academically to fulfill future high-wage STEM jobs.

Jewels Academy’s solution to address the STEM gender gap is to offer an afterschool program platform where evenings and Saturdays are utilized for hands-on STEM learning. Our solution involves providing a nurturing and encouraging environment to empower underrepresented groups to discover various STEM careers as young as 9 years of age up to 17 years of age, with college interns being invited back to speak or work for the organization. The relationships built through peers and peer mentors are essential in creating an inclusive environment. Our relationships with our business partners and community organizations are essential for viability of participants and growth of our overall community. An area we need to enhance is developing the membership model to keep connected with the girls year over year as they progress to STEM career attainment. We will utilize our customer management software but need funding to strengthen the connection with the girls as they join STEM pathways.

Our CRM software (Neon CRM) stores our metrics, sends out notifications and manages our donations. We utilize Google Suite for our internal operational needs to document lesson plans, programming information, and store our media (files) over the years. We manage our courses using a learning management system called Talent LMS which stores our curriculum, track student progress, and will eventually build out our on-demand hands-on STEM curriculum.

Experience has shown us that hands-on learning is best with a project-based platform, using field trips where applicable. We’ve seen a collaboration among parents, community partners, and business leaders, which is essential for the viability of the organization. Building these networks are key, but keeping in touch with the students year over year is essential to help build the STEM pathway. Our solution is to create a membership pathway to keep in touch with the students and offer various STEM resources through our programming or a partner’s programming with the goal of students remaining in the STEM pathways.

We are passionate about helping young women long-term realize their talent and value, and understand they have much to offer in STEM fields. The mission of Jewels Academy is to provide young women the competitive edge needed to succeed academically and vocationally in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, leadership, financial stewardship, and the arts within an encouraging and nurturing environment. We want every Iowa girl to believe that not only are STEM careers an option for them, but STEM fields need them. Our primary goals include:

- Cultivating interest and developing an aptitude for science and technology.

- Promoting participation in post-secondary education by exploring STEM careers and the skills they require.

- Introducing cutting-edge technology while providing hands-on learning.

- Building character traits for the betterment of the community.

Jewels Academy welcomes students of all faiths and socio-economic backgrounds. We specifically target underrepresented females, grades 4-12, and have an annual goal of serving at least 50% girls of color. More than half of our participants are females identifying as Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC) and nearly all come from underserved populations.

Though we don’t specifically target low-income families, typically about half of those we serve live at or below Iowa’s median income. In accordance with the federal income eligibility guidelines for FY2022/23, 68.57% of Jewels Academy participants qualify for reduced or free meals. Our services are offered on a sliding scale that ensures equitable access to programming, with children who live in low-income households participating at no cost.

Recent participants were:

99.98% female (while our programming is directed toward girls/young women, we will not turn away any young person wanting to attend a workshop)

51% BIPOC (in 2022, 79% of our students were people of color)

Average household income: Below $60,000

For us to continually understand the target market, we ask participants and their parents/guardians to complete surveys after each workshop series. This gives us immediate feedback on the current programming and future desired workshops.  We review the statistics from the Department of Labor to understand the future job demands and the type of programming needed in the future. We also have a student voice represented on our governing board to stay relevant as we make strategic decisions for the organization.

Jewels Academy has the right credentials, the right partners, and the right leader. Since 2012, Jewels Academy has been a central Iowa leader in addressing disparities in STEM learning, boosting more women into postsecondary training or education in STEM fields. We utilize a non-traditional, encouraging, and nurturing environment that progressively builds the skills needed in the traditional classroom.

Jewels Academy helps offset some of the institutional and systemic barriers that create racial disparity by specifically targeting girls of color and ensuring programming is led by people with lived experience that shapes the work they do. In a state with a homogenous population with around 90% of people identifying as White, Jewels Academy was formed by a person of color, is led by a diverse board, and more than half the girls we serve each year are of color. Our Board is 89% female and half of our members identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC).

We encourage active engagement from our attendees in several ways:

1. We have both student and parent representatives on our Board of Directors.

2. Our students and their parents complete  surveys at the close of each workshop, which helps shape our policies and practices.

3. As girls get older, we offer them the opportunity to participate in our Peer Mentors program, actively shaping the delivery of curriculum to younger participants.

Jewels Academy is well positioned to deliver our solution. Our operating team is 100% women. Seventy percent of our team are women of color, all having STEM backgrounds. Over 50% of our team has a master’s degree or more. Our office is  located in the heart of Des Moines, Iowa in a diverse community (Sherman Hills), where our service population also dwells. 

In 2022, Jewels Academy served 121 attendees, a 15% increase from 2021.

We are applying to the Challenge to: (1) build a membership pathway to keep in touch with students and offer various STEM resources through our programming and our partner’s programming in an effort to keep students in STEM pathways; (2) to scale our programming and need the financial backing to do so; and (3) to replicate our programming across the nation. 

Our Team Lead is Dr. Kimberly Wayne. She is a woman of color and serves as a powerful role model to students participating in our programming. She has a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Purdue, a master’s in business administration from Iowa State, and a doctorate in educational leadership from Drake University. Her published research includes, “Keeping them in the STEM pipeline: A Phenomenology Exploring the Experiences of Young Women and Underrepresented Minorities in a Long-term STEM Enrichment Program.”

Dr. Wayne is a member of Iowa’s State Board of Education and chairs the Equity Committee. Under her leadership, Jewels Academy is a recipient of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council Seal of Approval and was the first to receive a 2019 Million Women Mentors scholarship to support STEM programming for underrepresented girls in Des Moines.

Dr. Wayne’s commitment to setting low-income and BIPOC young women up for long-term success, along with the dedicated leadership of our diverse board of directors, provides a programming environment where students from all walks of life feel valued and supported. 

There is no other organization that provides the same programming offered by Jewels Academy. We are aware of three organizations that have STEM or technology focus programming during afterschool hours. Tiger Lily is a for-profit tutoring business in West Des Moines but geared towards younger students. We serve the Des Moines metro, with at least 50% of our students being persons of color, and we are a long-term enrichment program. Approximately 60% of our students come back year after year. Pi515 is a technology focused non-profit, but the programming is only during the school year. Our programming is in the summer and Saturdays and focuses on young women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Finally, Tech Journey is a technology camp held in the summer and focuses on middle and high school students two weeks out of the year. We differ because we are young woman focused, year-round, and multiple subject related.

Our organization is unique in that it allows students, parents, and sponsors to access our core programs online. Additionally, we are a long-term STEM program year over year from 4th grade to 12th with the focus of creating pathways for the students to graduate into college bound programs such as Upward Bound and Science Bound, etc. 

Our primary goal is to increase and sustain a positive impact on young women for success in the global workforce areas of STEM by providing educational programming to underrepresented girls, grades 4-12. This will be accomplished by: (1) cultivating interest and developing an aptitude for science and technology; (2) promoting participation in post-secondary education by exploring STEM careers and the skills they require; (3) introducing cutting-edge technology while providing hands-on learning; and (4) building character traits for the betterment of the community. 
In the next 3 to 5 years our goals are to increase the number of women that we serve 10% each year. We will do this by continually growing our alumni base to create STEM social capital for our future, current and past participants through an informal STEM membership, hybrid programming that is a welcoming and inclusive environment. We want to change the region and then replicate this across the state and eventually nationally. 

We also want to sustain our organization long-term with a full-time team. 

We measure impact on the number people we serve, pursue a STEM academic study, and STEM career attainment. 

Short term we measure satisfactory ratings of our workshops and participation.

We also celebrate the accomplishments of our graduates through our wall of brilliance.  See here: https://jewelsacademy.org/wall-of-brilliance/. Wall of brilliance measures the number of students that finish high school, attend college, and go into a STEM career.

Our founder conducted a study through her dissertation, Keeping Them in the STEM Pipeline: A Phenomenology Exploring the Experiences of Young Women and Underrepresented Minorities in a Long-Term STEM Enrichment Program. Her research surveyed women that participated in afterschool programming and who attained STEM careers. Her findings of this qualitative study are the premises of Jewels Academy infrastructure and services offered. There were 10 findings through the qualitative analysis with a transformative framework of the participants experiences:

(1) STEM enrichment programs and staff created a place where participants felt welcomed and valued;

(2) STEM enrichment programs challenged and supported participants to move outside their comfort zones;

(3) STEM enrichment programs provided opportunities for both cognitive and non-cognitive skills development;

(4) Family involvement of STEM enrichment programs ranged from low to high engagement

(5) Participants experienced non-supportive educators along their journey while STEM enrichment programs countered those experiences;

(6) Participants reflected that K-12 early exposure to STEM is critical for a STEM career path;

(7) STEM enrichment program involvement provided both short-term and long-term benefits;

(8) STEM enrichment programs’ role models and mentors were seen as heroes and provided inspiration, which created a pipeline of giving back;

(9) Participants did not seek out STEM. programs but pursued STEM involvement because of external encouragement;

(10) Issues related to gender and race still prevalent, but STEM enrichment programs provided support and confidence for participants in non-diverse settings. Implications, recommendations, and suggestions for future research are also presented.

The summary of this research aids in the framework of Jewels Academy’s mission to help more women pursue STEM careers, starting early with a strong network of support. Helping more women fill the STEM career gap is a complex issue, and not one solution will solve it. However, with various factors, the gap can be closed, keeping the above findings in mind.

We realize that technology is used as a tool but building relationships drives the desired impact. Therefore, we are leveraging our CRM system (Neon), social media platforms, community and business partnerships, and other software systems (Google Suite, Talent LMS, and Website) to work in a cohesive manner to yield the targeted impact.

1 part-time

4 contractors part-time work on the solution

Ten years, all part-time and ranging from 2 to 4 people working on it.

The essence of Jewels Academy lives and breathes DEI – from our board leadership, our operations team, to the founder. Since our mission and our philosophy are about diversity we lean on the following statement: “Jewels Academy welcomes students of all faiths, and socio-economic backgrounds.” 

Our value proposition is to serve high quality informal STEM education to young women in grades 4th – 12th in a welcoming and inclusive environment, with access to a STEM network of women, that prepares them for future careers in STEM.

Accessing mentors, role models and networking opportunities through our corporate sponsors, and community partnerships and hosted workshops provide streams of revenue. These partnerships yield a year over year positive impact within the community that we serve, which are girls in 4th – 12th, and the beneficiaries are our corporate and community partners.

Our services are STEM educational self-enrichment experiences that are hands-on and relatable to future STEM careers.  We provide these services through partnerships with higher educational institutions, feedback from our participants in an after-school environment, and market research on future STEM careers that are in demand.  We need these services for students and parents to start early in creating and sustaining the interest in STEM careers to help fulfill workforce gaps in the high demanding STEM fields.

Business Model Outline:  JA Strategy-Business Plan/2023 Business Model Canvas

We will bring in funding by diversifying our revenue through 8 streams which are sponsorships, grants (local, state and government), foundations, individual donors, and programming fees. Since our market is mostly underserved, low income, we’ve not tapped into the middle- or upper-class income households that can pay for the programming fees. We are also in the process of applying for government grants and city contracts. To stabilize our organization, we will need to continue to diversify our revenue streams.

Jewels Academy is sustained through corporate partners, individual donors, and grants. To create sustainability, we are diversifying our revenue by switching from being 60% grant revenue-based to more donors and programming fee-based. In 2021, we started the sponsorship program and raised 25% of our budget. In 2022 we raised nearly 20% the first two years. This has proven to be a viable funding stream and will continue the sponsorship program going forward. Our revised strategy requires us to diversify our revenue streams in 8 different streams from local, state, federal, individuals, corporate, programming fees, and in-kind opportunities.

Jewels Academy has pending grant proposals for nearly 50% of the required dollars, a large majority of which is requested from previous funders. Additional requests are planned to meet the remaining need and any shortfall from existing asks. We will continue to seek broad-based funding support and leverage our relationships with corporate partners to provide in-kind expertise that advances our mission. Our board of directors provides financial oversight and we have never ended a year in a deficit.