Girls Changing The World

We believe that much of the gender inequity in STEM is based on the oversight of early introduction beginning at the pre-school level. Especially in low income areas classroom activities, supplies and teachings are not necessarily geared toward maximizing on the general innate attributes that many young girls have. These attributes include curiosity, communication, empathy, sharing, listening, interpreting and active participation. 

As girls move through school,  STEM segments are still not introduced in a focused manner, essentially and passively providing training for higher grade levels which specifically focus on the sciences, math and technology.  

As reported in the NY Post in 2023: "The city reported in September that 38% of kids in grades 3-8 achieved math proficiency in 2022, a drop of nearly 8 percentage points from 2019, when 46% of students made the grade. Including opt-outs brings math proficiency among city public school students down to 37%."  https://nypost.com/2023/03/11/...

In 2022, the Hechinger Report posted, "By first grade, many children already believe boys are more interested than girls in engineering, the study found. By third grade, children believe that gender-based interest is true of computer science as well. Interestingly, the research revealed that stereotypes about who is interested in STEM are stronger than stereotypes about STEM ability. The belief that girls find math and science less engaging was shown to have a greater impact on girls’ interest in STEM than the belief that they may not be good at it." https://hechingerreport.org/re...

We believe twofold that post-pandemic- these disparities are higher and that in low income areas, these challenges are more extreme as exhibited by multiple generations. Many belief system are "inherited" and "amplified" by the environment and lack of exposure to other neighborhoods, cultures, activities and people of higher income levels. 

"New York City Public Schools contains 1851 schools and 1,050,649 students. The district’s minority enrollment is 90%. Also, 54.1% of students are economically disadvantaged. https://www.usnews.com/educati..."  These numbers do not include the private school population which is high at the preschool level in low income areas. 

"Overall, women accounted for 29.3 percent of STEM federal workers. Science occupations had the most (49,546), while math occupations in the federal sector had the fewest number of women (6,469). There were significantly fewer women in Technology and Engineering than expected...Most of the women working in STEM in the federal sector were White (66.02 percent). By comparison, 14.58 percent were African American or Black, 9.76 percent Asian, 6.42 percent Hispanic or Latina, 0.97 percent American Indian/Alaska Native, and 0.28 percent Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. In addition, 1.98 percent indicated they were more than one race." https://www.eeoc.gov/special-topics-annual-report-women-stem#:~:text=Overall%2C%20women%20accounted%20for%2029.3,Technology%20and%20Engineering%20than%20expected.

The statistics and information contained herein illustrates our continued deficiencies where girls growing into women ready for careers and businesses in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. 

Our solution begins with "fun and interactive' Curriculum at the pre-school level which carries cohorts through to High School and College if College is attended. At every grade level, female students are learning age appropriate financial management, business practices, conflict resolution and how to work in teams and equally independently.  

Always treated as 'Professional Intelligent' human beings, the solution capitalizes on girls/women as problem solvers, long-term thinkers and aware of the needs of all vs. the desires of the 'one'.

The technology is key as it will include the curriculum, recordings of activities/findings, information, videos, live mentor meetings, live cohort conferences/expos, 'video trips around the world' to connect with peers from other neighborhoods, states and countries. 

Our solution supports girls all throughout their school years into adult, where they too can see their own growth, awards and peers.

Mimicking other successful large group specific industry models by incorporating the best of the best of organizations such as: an online College, the Girl Scouts, DWEN, Worldwide Women's Association, a Chamber Of Commerce,  American Association of University Women, Association for Women in Science, Black Girls Code, Girls Who Code, Million Women Mentors, National Girls Collaborative Project, The Society of Women Engineers and Women in Engineering Pro Active Network.

The Curriculum and accompanying materials, workbooks, story books, toys, games and activities will be used in schools, after school and over the summer months and participants will be able to access everything online and via phone.  With assigned Mentors for each area of programming and personal needs, our students are never alone or without the needed support. Similar to a 'life line', we are the '311' for girls at every stage of their development until they no longer feel the need.  

In person conventions will take place over school breaks and summer months and organized as adult industry conventions are handled with guest speakers, interactive tables, gala's and presentations.  Our solution, again, age appropriate with the underlying concept of "I Can and I Will", "I'm never Alone", "Mistakes Lead To Major Success", "I Do Good Works" and "Women Can Work Together".  Along the way, similar to the Girl Scouts, mottos and badges are instilled and earned over time. We propose the noncompetitive way of life, it is not one against the other, but our solution is fixed on "Self-Development

We envision our solutions being beneficial to girls/women from age 5 through 55 years of age. Our Apps can be accessed from a computer, tablet, cell phone, landline and smart TV as we will have our own Channel on Roku, Firestick and Apple TV. In this manner information and live assistance is available 24/7 and throughout their lifetimes; most importantly, it can be shared with their daughters, friends, peers and co-workers.  Our solution is based on "changing the game" over the course of generations as women as 'heads of households' can change their families and communities and it all begins with presenting the youngest girl students with their names embroidered on a lab coat. 

Imagine have 'big sisters' who are with you for life and assist/support in every aspect of your life from school to family to career development, entrepreneurship, filing for a patent and always belonging to a group who cares about you as a person and is always there to help you through mistakes and celebrate your victories no matter how small or large?

As a former preschool teacher, school director, teacher supervisor and special education tester, parent workshop facilitator and preschool trainer, our group has experience in all educational grades, careers, entrepreneurship, inventions, parenting and failures.  

We live/d in the neighborhoods that we wish to serve and understand the other factors that affect interests, self confidence, determination and lessen fears. Many of our students are from extremely low income areas where they experience and bear witness to horrible atrocities and behaviors on a daily basis.  The younger generations in low income lack resources, no longer have 'innocent' childhoods. Watching the news on any day reveals crimes caused by and happening to much younger people.  The art of 'communication' to resolve, as well as 'fist fighting' are all but gone. Many of our youth retain a depth of anger that if not addressed will bring fewer graduates, more jail time and a prevalent minimum wage group along with more families surviving by social services. 

Starting at the beginning (pre-school) to get where you want to go, the solution has to address the 'whole child'; the 'whole person' and technology plays a huge role in being able to connect and deliver content and services at all times. 

While all schools use mandated curricula, teachers write their own lesson plans and sometimes the plans are not executed.  Our solution is a fun, easy, standard, curriculum with the materials and supplies included for a natural progression. "Tests" are more hands-on rather than memorizing. An interactive test engages all of the child. 

Having access to online/app support along with mentors solidifies the learning; leads to the next level.  These are  'building blocks' addressing the 'whole child/adult'. 

All people are more successful when most of their needs are being met as in Maslow's Theory.  While we can't resolve every single problem that each girl/woman  is experiencing, we can solve many of them and most importantly, rather than seeking advice from peers, they will have the benefit of professional adult mentors . Once we do not feel alone, afraid that a mistake will cause lifetime harm, do not feel less than or different, we can progress with less fear and each level of progression leads to the next.  An experiment was conducted by a teacher whereby she told all of the blonde haired students that they would pass the test and they did.  Next she did the same with the dark haired students and their grades rose to and above passing.  What others say and self-talk do affect us and especially at young ages where we are looking for approval and acceptance.  

We are the right team to address these specific challenges because we were raised in and still live in the areas which we want to serve.  All of us have professional experience in delivering both education as well as managing after school and niche programming within our community for years.  We are also very connected to other nonprofit groups, community leaders and agencies which address other areas related to being a child, girl, woman, worker and entrepreneur in these type areas. 

We've raised our own children and have had the opportunity to reflect as we watch the next generations. Girls especially, need an extra layer of academic and mentoring support.

Our team lead has lived in our community since age 3 and was one of those girls who was afraid of STEM, did not have the benefit of academic mentors and while she has achieved much, there's always the "what if". Our team representative still works in education and has successfully experimented with our solutions.

As active members of our community in belonging to various groups and actively participating in a variety of group meetings and organizational activities, these are conversations that are always taking place and validated by what is viewed in the streets.

Most residents are concerned about education and everyone is concerned about crime and community budgets, resources, etc. Most of realize that public schools and teachers cannot do it all, that parents can't do it all, especially those who are single household heads, therefore, we all agree that we need other long-term solutions, not just to break even, but to succeed and ensure that the next generations have the care, understanding, tools and resources to keep it going for the succeeding generations.  

Many parents are not able to take or to afford extra programming for their children and typically girls are placed in dance, track or karate and while these activities are great, they are not 

Our website is being built, but over the last few years as an organization, we have women participants and are noticing a drop in the number of women interested in various STEM pursuits which we know automatically translates into a lesser number of girls interested in the same. 

Since the pandemic, we are noticing an increase in female participants by 20% which translates into approximately 10 women in the last 12 months.

Funding makes all of the difference because you can plan, pay as needed and afforded better everything.  Of course passion, experience, credentials and people skills are necessary and those we do already have. Funding will also help us contract a better lawyer, CPA, staffing, website and app developers and have apps on smart TV.  Having a full-time engineer to oversee the development, growth and manageability is key to success.

Having the benefit of professional guidance and the support of a group will most certainly help us remain successful. Having industry level resources for our team would be a great benefit and being part of another peer-to-peer network would be amazing. Even as a group, sometimes we feel that we have limited resources and time. With funding much of the lacks are eliminated and we can then focus on programming, retention, problem solving and maximizing on what we offer participants.

To be able to print out materials as well as have them uploaded in advance would alleviate a lot of stress as in 'being ready without having to get ready'.  

Adrienne Whaley has lived the in community since age 5 and has attended the public schools, programs and activities in the community, worked at several companies in the community, raised her family and belongs to several community groups and organizations. 

We're filling the gaps for lower income girls and women by addressing, as the author Faith Popcorn explains, all of her needs and not just one. 

We understand that no one school or two parents or one after school program can address all of a child's or adults needs and we submit that quite often needs can be addressed simply with having someone to talk to without feeling strange or judged. 

In being that outside group, coming in, we can address needs that schools are not designed to do, programs can't and peers of the same age - shouldn't. We can take on the whole view and address all of the factors that hinder pursuit of STEM as a whole or as a single area of interest.  The best view typically is from the outside where you're not beholding to particular group.

On our team as well, will be mental health and career coaches of minority backgrounds who will speak in plain age appropriate language and also help to develop curricula. 

In  the long time, our programming will provide evidenced based proof that by addressing more parts of the human, not just girls and women, we help to develop a more whole adult which is what society needs. We hope that our data will affect education, afterschool programming, colleges and the workplace in understanding that by offering a little more, you receive a lot more in return. It is very possible to work with lower income groups, girls in particular and 'Intentionally" educate and support to go into those fields most shied away from. The key is to keep it going with long-term support systems. With our success, we will have created a modified way to teach, nurture, prepare and support at every life stage and with some of our students coming back to speak, mentor or work with us, seeing and listening to former participants in person  is truly a game changer. Once again, when you see people just like you who have achieved something that you want to do, it is highly motivating and sets your mind on a different plane.  That plane breeds success regardless of failures and challenges to get there. 

The educational textbook and supply market will also change because you can entertain and teach at the same time.  Negative fairy tales where someone is stalked and killed, perhaps need to be rewritten to illustrate the power, not the powerlessness. There are too many negative writings, images, news, music and movies where women are complete victims and these images send a subliminal message that seeps into our consciousness.  

By changing the narrative, we change people and systems and practices. 

As an existing organization, we know to start small in the first year after getting everything set up. First beta testing with a small group of no more than 25 students from several schools, review, adjust accordingly before rolling out with a larger group. 

Our impact goals are to have preschool students start talking about STEM related activities vs. the conversations that they have know. We want to develop their minds to think as scientific problem solvers with the terminology and practice of writing things down/keeping a notebook of theories and findings. We will have a 'lab' day with them so that they can meet and show us what they have learned. The debriefing by students, parents and teachers will yield a lot of information. 

Over the course of the next five years we will start again with the next age group and also compare the findings at the end of the year with the first group.  We also have to help the older groups catch up while still working with the youngest students.  Here is also where dedicated staff per age group is vital to have. 

In having the accompanying statistics and using those numbers to help improve the programming across all grade levels into adulthood, we can properly address all of the challenges that the students are experiencing while also offering the needed supports and referrals as needed. 

Our Sustainable Development Goals include both formal and informal surveys of students, parents, teachers and a more detailed survey for adult participants. 

As our program continues for years, we will also have plenty of data to review to track where we're doing well and we're we need to improve. We will also include a focus group of teachers and parents. In working closely with local precincts, we can also find out stats rather quickly. 

The most telling data will be comparisons with counterparts from more affluent areas and counterparts in other states/countries.  

We will have a dedicated staff member to gather and analyze stats and create comparison charts based on various factors.

Our Theory Of Change and Logical Framework begin with the existing statistics compared with the desired statistical outcome. We focus on the questions: How do we get there from here, what are all the factors that hinder and how do we realistically address them.  With team leaders for each factor, research from experts and direct information from parents, teachers, school administrators and industry professionals and related companies we will have a clear illustration as to where the gaps are, what is needed and from there we can determine the best practices to get there.

Online/App participation translates into data and in-person activities will also be very telling in numbers of participants who attend.

Peer based research is easy to gather and we are in a college town and will also ask several professors from several colleges to collaborate with us on class research projects. Many professors are required to author text books and we will also collaborate with them to ensure that our model is reflective of the groups we are here to assist.

Interviewing counterparts in the fields  that we are helping our participants to get into will also provide helpful information as to what they attribute their successes to. 

Our core technology will be the website, related apps and the streaming platform.  The website and apps will also provide zoom-like capabilities for teaching, mentoring and group work and connecting girls/women with each other in other states and countries. 

Technology offers us the advantage of real-time and language translation whereby participants can communicate with peers who speak a different language and understand each other. Language translation in real-time is life and world changing. We also have connections in other countries who can assist us with ensuring a smooth flow and connecting with schools, teachers and programs. Our connections can also go into STEM related companies for a filmed tour which can be uploaded to the site along with interviews.

Evidenced based knowledge will be apparent in the conversations that the students have while wearing their lab coats, what they write in the chat boxes and how much over talk time they try to go.

Students will also be able to take a picture from their cell phones and submit any work directly to the site without having to take the extra step to scan.

Full-time staff: 2

Part-time staff: 4

Contractors: 5

We have been working on our solution for over ten years individually and in small groups.  As a large group, we've been working on our solution for about two years. 

Our team is diversely brown skinned from African American to West Indian to Latino and reflective of the lower income areas we would like support in providing solutions for. 

With financial support, we can hire staffing to ensure that many more ethnic groups in Queens are represented within our team and the team will include both woman and men with related experience and talent. All of us have worked with various cultural groups and are all about diversity as the answer to many issues and behaviors. We also acknowledge the basic differences between men and women, which is why we need male staff to help our participants develop the ability to learn and work in professional environments. 

As an organization, our existing activities have always reflected diversity and embrace inclusion, however, there is typically more participation by males and why our focus is on girls. 

As a nonprofit arts and culture organization we incorporate learning, inclusion and gender equity into all that we do while we are based in low income areas. In the course of our operations, it is quite easy to see the revenue that individuals can generate with more focused programming.  While economics is always an issue, mindset and having resources also cause long time lack, not trying and a continued walk through life feeling as a failure before anything is attempted.

When one benefits, it trickles down and expands because when we see people who look just like us experiencing achievement, it opens the mind to possibilities.  An open mind begins to move forward and up. 

We provide a variety of services that offer hope, a platform to showcase, a place to learn, network and belong to. For young girls and even grown women, these are important services, because most people want to be accepted, appreciated and not judged or compared.

Our delivery service is through activities, events and workshops. We theme our activities based on customer feedback, what is going on in the area, society and the world. 

Too many people, especially those who are creative in the arts, technology, sciences and entrepreneurship do feel alone, not understood and isolated. While there are a lot of groups, organizations and agencies, there are still niche areas that deserve to be included. For us, it's about filling the gaps and viewing the issues in it's whole which goes back to the whole child, the whole girl, the whole adult. 

To become financially stable, events such as festivals, galas and like events provide revenue as do sponsors and grants.  We're now working on developing a membership division (a sense of belonging) for individuals and corporations.  

Producing a documentary will also yield revenue as it can be sold to schools, libraries and individuals around the world and can also be funded via grants, donations and sponsors.

Segments of our business model can generate revenue via subscriptions Teacher trainings, materials, equipment, supplies, books, etc. can be sold to individual schools, districts, etc. by grade level. This division would fall under a MWBE whereby it will be eligible to apply for government contracts and in about two years, apply for the NYSE.  The nonprofit segments will stay in place.

The products will be marketed on social media, streaming platforms, radio and Television supported by creating a buzz on talk shows and in magazines. With the benefit of a PR Agency, we can position ourselves to become the 'experts' in STEM and by collaborating with similar organizations and programs, we will extend our share in the marketplace. 

Thus far, we are able to secure grants, sponsors, participant fees, ad space sales and ticket sales. We receive donations from individuals, a few sending monthly donations of $600 monthly. Annual grants typically yield 12k - 14k, ticket sales at 10k annually and sponsorships at 1k per event.

We often receive sponsorships from local banks, grants from NYS Dept. of Cultural Affairs, Poets & Writers, Flushing Town Hall, Queens Council On The Arts, DYCD, NYFA and others.