Techbridge Girls Extends Expanding Your Horizon Network's Assets to Increase Quality STEM Education Access to One Million Girls by 2030

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Techbridge Girls, a nonprofit leader in afterschool STEM education for girls from marginalized communities, is now one giant leap closer to its bold goal to serve 1 million girls by 2030. As of September 30, 2019, the not-for-profit organization officially gained oversight to operate Expanding Your Horizons Network assets. The two organizations came together under a year-long partnership, which led both to the conclusion that their impact to inspire girls to pursue STEM-related careers is greater together.

Launched in 2000 at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland with a grant from the National Science Foundation, Techbridge Girls is one of the earliest organizations to focus on introducing girls from economically disadvantaged communities to the STEM fields. Founded in 1974, Expanding Your Horizons Network maintains a portfolio of more than 100 conferences in 43 U.S. states and four countries (UK, Switzerland, Japan, and Italy), which serve approximately 25,000 middle and high school girls from all backgrounds annually. At its core, Expanding Your Horizons Network's unique global network of STEM conferences provide a gateway to inspire girls to see themselves as future participants in STEM educational opportunities and careers.

"By combining forces with Expanding Your Horizons Network, Techbridge Girls can continue to ensure that every girl - no matter their economic status, race, or ethnicity - gains science capital through access to high-quality STEM experiences, role models from their communities, and a supportive environment to help them navigate their pursuit toward a career rooted in innovation that will lead to economic opportunity and mobility," said Nikole Collins-Puri, CEO of Techbridge Girls. "By sparking an interest through a variety of relevant experiences and equipping girls to navigate a path toward success, we believe the impact is transformational and their possibilities become endless."

The new relationship will begin with Techbridge Girls integrating its 20-year expertise in providing equitable STEM enrichment experiences and reaching girls from marginalized communities followed by strengthening back-office support, infrastructure and resources to operate and grow the Expanding Your Horizons Network's robust model of more than 100 conferences into its programmatic portfolio. This will immediately open access to new communities and deepen the quality of its STEM enrichment opportunities through the addition of thousands of volunteers, an alumnae group of more than one million, and creates a network of role models equipped to inspire a girl's pursuit toward STEM-related careers.

"Expanding Your Horizons Network conferences serve as another important entry point for girls to access STEM experiences, which have been shown to open a lifetime of achievement and success," continued Collins-Puri.

To stay connected to Techbridge Girls, learn about programming or upcoming conferences, visit Techbridgegirls.org.

About Techbridge Girls

Techbridge Girls is an award-winning, nonprofit leader and innovator in after-school STEM education by championing equity in STEM and fair access to economic opportunity for all girls. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2020, the organization's now best-in-class STEM programs are delivered to girls from low-income, underserved communities across the country. Metro area by training educators to deliver its unique brand of gender and culturally relevant curriculum. Since 2000, Techbridge Girls has trained over 7,800 girls, 20,000 educators, 1,400 family members, 1,500 role models and 1,000 volunteers. It's reached an additional 70,000 students through its proprietary, National Science Foundation-certified STEM lessons. The organization's goal is to reach 1 million girls by 2030. Visit Techbridgegirls.org to learn more or to get involved in reaching this goal.

SOURCE Techbridge Girls