Win STEM began as the far-fetched dream of a freshman student at the University of Texas at Dallas. Today, this dream has the ability of changing society.
Welcome to Win STEM! We hope to introduce you to our new nonprofit organization, how it started, and why the impact on society is important today.
Win STEM was created by a young woman who needed the resources provided by this organization back when she didn't have clear access to them.
Mission
Win STEM is a charitable, service-oriented organization aimed at supporting and recruiting ambitious women to pursue STEM careers through building confidence, community engagement, and opportunity guidance.
STEM careers include careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Examples of such careers include researchers, doctors, IT specialists, physicists, statisticians, architects, and much more.
Win STEM was founded by a college student, Raluca Narita. Raluca was a Freshman when the idea of creating a student organization at her University crossed her mind. As a student studying Biology, Healthcare Management, and Mathematics at the University of Texas at Dallas, Raluca found herself gravitating towards organizations that promoted careers in the STEM field. An issue she found was that though joining these organization was a great way to connect with others and see what opportunities there were in a certain field of study, these organizations never really went beyond showing the surface.
For instance, an organization might say that a graduate school in the STEM field prefers that a student has shadowing and volunteer experiences, but the organization never provides the means to attain these experiences. There was a disconnect between knowing what to do to be successful and actually doing it.
Win STEM was created by a young woman who needed the resources provided by this organization back when she didn't have clear access to them. Our organization was made to provide opportunity guidance.
To us, opportunity guidance means not just telling someone what they should do to be successful, but actually connecting them with these resources. For instance, if job shadowing is recommended, then Win STEM not only will inform you about that, but we will also get you in touch with multiple professionals and see to it that you get the chance to make the relationship work. Win STEM does not exist to guarantee success but to ensure that opportunities to achieve success are made available to everyone, regardless of gender.
Community
The scope of opportunity guidance is to help the individual. Win STEM, however, was made to help all women in the community. Giving advice and connecting women to resources is very important, which is why we commit a third of our time towards this goal. At the same time, we recognize that helping one person at a time excludes many who need access to our help as well.
A third of Win STEM's time and resources are committed towards community engagement. Community engagement means volunteering, donating to other nonprofit organization, and hosting public events to spread our message. We believe that servant leadership is a must in our modern day society in order to make a positive difference in the world.
For far too long, individuals perceiving themselves as outsiders to the current system of societal norms have been allowing society to change them, instead of choosing to change society.
The Underlying Scope
Looking at Win STEM's mission, we still have not touched base on arguably the most important part of our scope as a nonprofit. Win STEM was created to build confidence. Women in STEM have been pressured by societal norms and stereotypes relatively more than society is willing to admit.
Our organization seeks to instill confidence in women through our workshops, blog posts, articles, videos, podcasts, and more. We hope by telling the stories of successful women in STEM and sharing the struggles and hardships with the community, women and girls around the world will feel inspired to make a positive change in their lives.
The underlying scope of Win STEM is to challenge stereotypes that plague women around the world. Though each individual may be impacted by a different and unique stereotype, each perception we shatter makes a change in society and therefore in our communities. For far too long, individuals perceiving themselves as outsiders to the current system of societal norms have been allowing society to change them, instead of choosing to change society. Win STEM is out to change this.
How to Make a Difference
Luckily, making a difference isn't as hard as you may think. Small changes in our every day lives, stepping outside of our comfort zones and speaking up about our challenges are just a few examples of what we can do on a daily basis.
Win STEM provides other routes for making a differences as well.
Though we are a nonmembership nonprofit, we rely heavily on our volunteers. If you want to be a part of our mission, fill out a volunteer form or contact us. As a new organization, many leadership volunteer positions are open. Some of these positions include, Fundraising Chair Volunteer and Social Media Ambassador.
If you are a student at a University, Community College, or High School, you may start a student-led organization to represent us. Reach out through our contact information if you would like to learn more about this opportunity.
Win STEM is a public funded charity. We are always open for donations. As of recent, we are also fundraising for COVID-19 aid. Take a look at our home page to find out more.
Thank you for taking a look at our website and blog! #winstem
Check out our Instagram: @win_stem
April 16, 2020
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