Meet Sabrina – Volunteering to Support Our Mentors

“I was lucky to have grown up exposed to computers from an early age,” explains JerseySTEM volunteer Sabrina Whiteman. “I had a father who was endlessly curious and he passed that curiosity to me.”

Acknowledging early exposure to computer science as one source of motivation, Sabrina has forged a career in information technology (IT) – working at companies like MassMutual Financial Group and the American Stock Exchange – and currently serves as senior administrator in the Computer Science Department at Yale University. As a volunteer with our team, she outlined the parameters of our Corporate Mentorship Program screening and matching process – a valuable operational function at the core of what JerseySTEM works to do.

“I love the idea of an organization that exposes children to STEM but also connects university students to participants.”

Says Sabrina: “It was important for me to provide my insight and experience so that JerseySTEM was successful in implementing the (mentoring) program with measurable and trackable goals.”

The JerseySTEM Corporate Mentorship Program pairs college students who are aspiring to STEM careers with STEM career employees (mentors) from socially responsible companies like Microsoft, Google, Verizon and others. The mentors guide the students on job search, job interview and workplace survival basics. In turn, these college students also mentor middle school students and / or teach our after-school programs. (Way to pay it forward!)

The program couldn’t have come too soon, according to Sabrina: “I believe school boards and leaders are woefully uninformed (about) the importance of educating our youth for a future where STEM impacts (the) fabric of our lives. Even with the free tools that are available…schools won’t have the capacity to use them in the classroom,” she posits, pointing to understaffing due to budget cuts as one reason STEM education levels vary from school to school.

Pairing a young professional mentor with a college student has been beneficial for both the mentors and the mentees. It helps each person connect STEM concepts to parts of everyday life; and both participants receive the social benefit of interacting with each other. When supported by a corporate sponsor, employees also take pride in working to further their company’s equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) agenda. Additionally, the mentees pass along what they’ve learned in our STEM youth programs.

“This programming should stand as a model for others across the nation,” Sabrina says. “I foresee (JerseySTEM) expanding and becoming a historically impactful organization that will…grow and serve additional communities in New Jersey.”

Sabrina hopes that students, mentors and instructors benefiting from our program will go on to have diverse and rewarding STEM careers. She also hopes many will, in turn, donate their time to our organization as volunteers.

“Without the right support, our children will fall behind those of other nations,” Sabrina says.

Volunteers like Sabrina and the companies that sponsor our mentors make bridging the STEM enrichment gap in New Jersey possible.

Meet Selwyn – Volunteering to Give Girls a Chance

How much do people rely on chance to get ahead in life?

According to Scientific American, we do it alot. “Are the most successful people mostly just the luckiest people in our society?” the blog asks. It points to studies that demonstrate how chance does, in fact, factor into human success stories:

• The chance of becoming a CEO is influenced by your name or month of birth
• People with easy to pronounce names are judged more positively than those with difficult-to-pronounce names
• Females with masculine sounding names are more successful in legal careers

The list goes on. It’s no wonder, our JerseySTEM volunteers often sound a familiar refrain: “Give girls a chance!”

Selwyn Browne is no different. As a volunteer, he has worked to establish a technical infrastructure that supports other volunteers and students alike. He brought us his cyber and networking security acumen, along with an entrepreneurial approach to evaluating and implementing new technologies for our organization.

“What inspired me most about volunteering with JerseySTEM is its mission and the exceptional work the organization does in many of the underserved and poorer communities,” Selwyn explains.

“(T)hese kids now have a better chance of getting a better education, getting into better colleges, and fulfilling their dreams in life.”

There’s that word “chance.” It implies a certain lack of equity. Some people are just lucky… others aren’t. Life’s not fair. (That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to make it as fair as possible.)

“(The STEM enrichment) gap will continue to widen, putting already vulnerable students at even more of an educational disadvantage, unless greater emphasis and resources are brought to bear to address the issue. Having access to education and the necessary resources is something every young person should have available to them regardless of socioeconomic status,” he says, echoing the JerseySTEM mission.

“My vision for the future of JerseySTEM is to see the organization continue with its mission and goals to reduce the gender gap in STEM participation, bridge the innovation gap in STEM education, and address the opportunity gap. It (has) worked with many of JerseySTEM’s volunteers and I know this is an achievable goal.”

We completely agree!

Meet Tonya – Volunteering to Groom Future STEM Professionals

“I was inspired to volunteer with JerseySTEM as I continued to witness how disproportionately women and minorities, in particular in underserved communities, did not have access to STEM opportunities.

I wanted to be part of a team building out the pipeline of talent for our future leaders.”

For Tonya Walley, the STEM education gap is a personal affront: “I am hoping (JerseySTEM) will close the equity gap on women and minorities in STEM roles,” she explains about the long-term JerseySTEM goal of advancing women and minorities in the STEM workforce.

“I believe the STEM enrichment gap exists in our country because there are access issues, in that some (school) districts do not have appropriate funding for STEM-related activities. There is also an issue with pure STEM awareness and how everything we do has tentacles in STEM learnings.”

Tonya works as a leader in field operations and plant maintenance for Cox Communications. While hers is a career most obviously rooted in technology, she acknowledges that she would not have gotten to where she is professionally without exposure to STEM enrichment; and she believes that technology (capital T in STEM) touches most jobs these days. Ergo, STEM enrichment is quite essential to a comprehensive education plan.

Tonya has volunteered directly with New Jersey school students to help bridge the STEM enrichment gap. She helped with onsite activities such as building robots and educating kids on the importance of STEM knowledge in the workplace.

JerseySTEM has been effective at enriching STEM education for New Jersey students these past nine years because of passionate volunteers like Tonya: “My vision for the future of JerseySTEM is that there would be a robust communication plan to educate students on the importance of STEM roles and that there would be funding allocated to teach students and expose them to STEM activities,” she says.

We quite agree!

Please consider doing what Tonya and other STEM professionals are doing to help build a strong pipeline of future leaders. Thank you!