PADF Receives Grant from Boeing to Expand STEM Americas Program to Mexico

The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) has received a $700,000 grant from The Boeing Company (Boeing) for the STEM Americas program, an initiative that promotes STEM education as a strategy to build the skills of students, especially girls and young women, across Latin America for the 21st century. With these funds, STEM Americas will expand to Mexico, providing greater access to equitable education, strengthening STEM education, and offering virtual learning opportunities for students during COVID-19.

“We are grateful for the generous support from Boeing, which comes at a critical time when school closures are disproportionally affecting the most vulnerable children in the region,” said PADF Senior Director of Program Innovation and Education Thematic Leader Luisa Villegas. “Boeing has been a dedicated partner in our efforts to foster quality STEM education in Latin America and build the next generation of innovation leaders.”

Over the past 12 years, Boeing and PADF have increased education and employment opportunities for youth and adults in Latin America. In the past five years alone, the STEM Americas program has trained over 1,500 teachers and provided STEM education experiences to more than 64,000 students in nine countries. STEM Americas has been implemented in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

Thanks to the new Boeing grant, the program will be expanded to Mexico, where teachers will receive hands-on training in STEM methodologies and curricula that they can implement in public school classrooms. Through improved education, the goal is to encourage more students, especially girls, to seek STEM-related careers. PADF will work with three different partners in Mexico, Movimiento STEM, Lab4U, and Oracle Academy, reaching 120 teachers and 150 students in 10 schools throughout the country.

PADF’s vision is to increase the number of vulnerable and excluded students that acquire relevant STEM skills, especially girls and young women, in response to the changing demands of the job market. We believe that with exposure to STEM education and skills for the 21st century, youth will have a greater chance of being lifted out of poverty and becoming stakeholders in the economic future of their country.

Posted on November 3, 2020