WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the STEMM Opportunity Alliance (SOA) announced STEMM Equity and Excellence 2050: A National Strategy for Progress and Prosperity at the 2024 White House Summit on STEMM Equity and Excellence, co-hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The overarching goal of the national strategy is to help 20 million people from historically excluded and marginalized communities enter, contribute to, and thrive in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medical (STEMM) fields.

SOA is a nationwide initiative committed to tapping America’s culturally rich, innovative and diverse talent pool to expand the STEMM workforce. Along with unveiling the national strategy, SOA announced that its partners, which have more than doubled in size since the December 2022 launch (200+), have collectively committed more than $2 billion to realize the vision of the national strategy.

“America’s diversity of thought, derived from our diversity of geography, background and identity, is one of our nation’s strongest assets,” said Sudip Parikh, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and executive publisher of the Science family of journals. “Growing the STEMM workforce to its greatest potential enables us to create a world where every child, regardless of their background, sees participation in STEMM as their birthright.”

Each SOA partner has aligned new or existing commitments and projects under the metrics laid out in the national strategy, all committing to multi-lateral, cross-sector collaboration to achieve systems-level change (view all partner commitments). Additionally, SOA announced 10 organizations to serve as anchor partners, each of whom will facilitate working groups within the strategy’s foundations, five pillars, and capstone. The anchor partners will build strong networks, drive toward ambitious, measurable goals, and realign SOA partners’ support, systems and accountability measures.

URA President & CEO, Dr. John Mester, and Dr. Cindy Achat-Mendes, URA’s Director of STEM Initiatives, attended the event.  Dr. Mester expressed his appreciation for the White House leadership on this topic and for the critical work of AAAS saying“URA is honored to be here at the White House as a partner of AAAS and all the committed organizations that make up the SOA.  We are pleased to do our part to continue to foster a climate of equity and inclusion in STEMM”

The mission of Universities Research Association (URA) is to support the national need for innovation in science and technology. Recognizing the talent among groups currently underrepresented in STEM, URA is committed to investing in a more inclusive STEM research ecosystem across academia and National Laboratories. In the past year, URA has launched three new initiatives that help to broaden participation in STEM: 1) At Fermilab, URA is contributing to increasing gender, racial, and ethnic workforce diversity through our Undergraduate Women in STEM  Internship, connecting diverse talent, including from minority-serving institutions to researchers and mentors in engineering and physical science fields; 2) For graduate students in STEM, URA’s Science Policy & Advocacy for Research Competition (SPARC) trains early career scientists in science communication and policy skills, building connections between a diversity of scientists and policymakers; and 3) As a new partner in the National GEM Consortium, URA will support the workforce development of graduate students from groups that are under-represented in STEM.  Through these new efforts, URA aims to embrace multiple minority-serving institutions as new URA partners, to ultimately invest in a more diverse array of national talent as a force multiplier for advancing science and technology innovation.

A strategic overview of the foundations, pillars, and capstone includes:

Foundations: Accountability and Partnership is focused on developing systems and processes for tracking SOA partners’ and national progress toward key success metrics, holding partners accountable for their commitments and building infrastructure for cross-sector coordination and collaboration. Anchor partner: American Institutes for Research.

Foundations: Accountability and Partnership is focused on developing systems and processes for tracking SOA partners’ and national progress toward key success metrics, holding partners accountable for their commitments and building infrastructure for cross-sector coordination and collaboration. Anchor partner: American Institutes for Research

Pillar 1: Engagement, focused on nurturing curiosity in every child, will work to ensure all schools provide high-quality STEMM coursework and provide children and families equitable access to STEMM learning experiences. Anchor partners: STEM Next and Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM

Pillar 2: Inspiration, focused on developing skilled and diverse educators, will end the shortage of STEMM pre-K-12 educators and work to diversify the STEMM educator workforce. Anchor partner: Beyond100K

Pillar 3: Discovery, focused on creating opportunity for all in higher education, will ensure higher education programs are designed to support the talent development of all people and create systems and policies that will support the development and retention of STEMM faculty from historically excluded and marginalized populations. Anchor partners: Oak Ridge Associated Universities and University Innovation Alliance 

Pillar 4: Innovation, focused on leveraging diverse minds in research and development, will ensure researchers from historically excluded and marginalized communities receive equitable opportunities and support and encourage entities across the R&D ecosystem to implement equity. Anchor partners: Morgan State University and Spelman College

Pillar 5: Opportunity, focused on ensuring all workers thrive, will remove barriers for historically excluded and marginalized communities to enter and succeed in STEMM workplaces and ensure all workplaces feel supportive of historically excluded and marginalized communities. Anchor partner: Jobs for the Future

Capstone: Strategic Communications will ensure demographics of STEMM professionals depicted in entertainment are consistent with the demographics of the country and effectively illustrate the importance of diverse perspectives in achieving excellence in STEMM. Anchor partner: The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media

SOA launched in December 2022 at the first-ever White House Summit on STEMM Equity and Excellence with founding partners AAAS and the Doris Duke Foundation. In its first year, SOA engaged more than 1,500 cross-sector leaders and community members around the nation to co-construct the national strategy. SOA hosted 12 in-person convenings across the country, five virtual town hall sessions and a written comment period to co-develop the strategy, which is rooted in the lived experiences of those doing the important work to achieve greater equity in STEMM.

At the 2024 White House Summit on STEMM Equity and Excellence, leaders in science, government, education and industry gathered at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to celebrate the national strategy launch, reflect on the co-construction process and reaffirm commitments for the next phase. The day-long summit also included panels with national leaders like Dr. Arati Prabhakar, director of OSTP and assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and breakout sessions by pillar.

###

The STEMM Opportunity Alliance is a national effort by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), with the support from the Doris Duke Foundation (DDF), dedicated to building a STEMM ecosystem rooted in equity, inclusion, and scientific excellence to power progress, innovation and prosperity for all by 2050. This effort brings together organizations and entities from across sectors and scientific communities that are committed to developing and advancing a national strategy for achieving shared goals for equity in STEMM.