About Project Scientist
Project Scientist began in 2013 with a dream to increase diversity in STEAM by inspiring girls. We have grown from serving 5 girls in our founder's backyard to serving 20,000 girls and non-binary youth across the nation in over 26 states.
We created Project Scientist to change the world's view of "who" a scientist is and "what" a scientist does. We aim to transform the face of STEAM by nurturing today's future scientists who will lead the world in solving tomorrow's greatest challenges. Every second of a student's time with us is intentional and based on the latest research of what drives and sustains girls and non-binary youths’ interest in STEAM. We are determined to reach STEAM girls and non-binary youth and hold their hand through their PhD or as far as their STEAM dreams take them.
For more information on Project Scientist, please visit website.
Our Opportunity for Impact
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic the Project Scientist programs and operating model consisted of in-person programs only, including a 6 week summer STEAM academy on university campuses and year-round expeditions to STEAM companies. We offered programs in a handful of states and our sources of funding comprised 50% paying customers and 40% corporate, foundation, and individual donations. The market we served was 50% sponsored students / 50% paying students. We served girls and non-binary youth aged 4-12 and ran an intern program for 18-24 year olds.
At the height of the pandemic, we pivoted quickly to a virtual model, hosting seminars and programs via Zoom. This new operating model allowed us to dramatically broaden our impact and serve students anywhere across the country and shift our focus to serving girls and non-binary youth in marginalized and underserved communities. We added a new program for students aged 13-15, a year-round after school STEAM club and expanded our programs to Mexico with Spanish language instruction. We introduced a free model where program costs were covered through fundraising and donations. And, as Project Scientist was no longer restricted to funding only in specific geographic locations, new funding opportunities became available. Today 100% of our students attend for free and the majority of our funding comes from STEAM companies and foundations, rather than from paying customers.
Project Scientist is at a critical inflection point in its growth trajectory. Now that we are able to serve girls and non-binary youth all across the country, it is more important than ever to have the right mix of talent and leadership to realize our goal to provide 1 million high-quality STEAM experiences by 2040. We will do this by:
- Serving 500,000 under-resourced and marginalized girls and non-binary youth in the communities where they live
- Training 5,000 elementary teachers in math, gender, and racial equity teaching strategies
- Engaging 4,000 STEAM professionals to serve as role models and STEAM advocates
- Partnering with leading companies and universities to create high-quality and relevant content and experiences
- Tracking outcomes and impact through pre and post-evaluations, longitudinal tracking, and third party oversight
To Apply
The application deadline is April 14, 2023 and applications received by that date will be given priority but we will accept applications until the position is filled. Zoom interviews with the Koya team will take place through the end of April. Zoom and in-person interviews with the search committee will take place through May to mid-June and we anticipate making an offer by the end of June.
Koya Partners, the executive search firm that specializes in mission-driven search, has been exclusively retained for this engagement. Karen Yetman Rea and Nikki Lynch of Koya Partners have been exclusively retained for this search. Express interest in this role by filling out our Talent Profile. All inquiries and discussions will be considered strictly confidential.
