On July 19th, 2010, a group of people who know the research and practice on women and girls in science and engineering met in Washington, DC. Their goal was to pick best strategies for increasing the numbers of girls pursuing STEM careers and recommend them to the Educate to Innovate Campaign launched by President Obama in 2009.

The goals of the Educate to Innovate Campaign are to increase science literacy, improve the performance of American students in science and math, and expand opportunities for underrepresented groups in order to build a larger and more diverse future workforce.

To identify best strategies in one month with limited and volunteer resources, the conveners invited up to 20 lead organizations to a meeting, and invited up to 8000 individuals to participate in electronic brainstorming. All considered 39 educational strategies known to recruit more girls to science, technology, engineering and mathematics by some increment. About 350 participated in brainstorming online. The two groups found concurrence on five top strategies to recommend at this time. One attendee wrote a blog post about the meeting.

What's the use? The "July 19th Collaboration" offers a refreshed list of 39 focused areas that describe current work as a systemic effort to change and correct for historical biases and exclusion. Every strategy can be tied to root causes for the low numbers of girls and women identified in research, and pilot programs with results. The Memo and a Report on the meeting are available as free PDFs at www.stemcollaboration.org and printed at cost from LuLu.

NGCP will host a webcast about the meeting and the report on Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 9:00 AM Pacific time. Register for the webcast here: Webcast Registration Link

STEMfest - Celebrating the Science of Our Lives
Northern Illinois University Convocation Center, DeKalb, IL Saturday, October 23, 2010
10 AM - 5 PM
The Midwest Girls Collaborative is co-sponsoring STEMfest, a celebration of innovations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The goal of the event is to increase awareness of the critical role science and other STEM fields play in our everyday existence through

• hands-on activities like navigating a laser maze,
• exhibitors such as NIU's storm chasing team,
• demonstrations of technologies and intriguing science phenomena including our popular Creepy Chemistry and Haunted Physics Labs.

Maine Girls Collaborative Project Annual Conference
Wells Conference Center, University of Maine
Orono, ME
November 5, 2010
8:00 AM - 3:30 PM
The Maine Girls Collaborative Project Annual Conference is an opportunity for individuals that are committed to informing and encouraging girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to connect with one another and learn from each other and experts. This conference is also a way for the Maine Girls Collaborative Project to demonstrate overall collaborative success thus far and provides an opportunity for mini-grant recipients to showcase the work completed by their projects.
Register: http://www.ngcproject.org/events/register.cfm?eventid=181

Girls 'Get' Tech in Maine
Through a collaboration between the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Maine and the Northeast Surgery of Maine, middle-school girls aged 11-14 from the greater Bangor, Maine area participated in hands-on activities including manipulating robotics and software that assist in diagnosing and treating medical conditions. Taking place at Eastern Maine Medical Center, the girls discovered acoustic analysis and how software is used for research and treatment of communication. A highlight was a workshop focused on hands-on robotics and how software, technology, and engineering are used for complex surgical robotics.

The girls enriched their knowledge of the roles of current technology and robotics in medicine and how these tools are used in the diagnosis and treatment of physiological conditions. They also learned about the range of career options for women in these fields.
http://www.ngcproject.org/mini-grant/grants.cfm?grantid=276

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month
Talent Has No Boundaries: Workforce Diversity Includes People with Disabilities
Congress designated each October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). This effort to educate the American public about issues related to disability and employment actually began in 1945, when Congress enacted a law declaring the first week in October each year "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week." In 1962, the word "physically" was removed to acknowledge the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities. In 1988, Congress expanded the week to a month and changed the name to "National Disability Employment Awareness Month."
http://www.dol.gov/odep/

7th Annual sySTEMnow Conference, "Making STEM Work"
Milwaukee, WI
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
7:30 AM - 3:30 PM (CT)
Since 2004, the sySTEMnow Conference has been the cornerstone of STEM awareness and the catalyst for STEM action in southeastern WI.

• Raising awareness of STEM-related issues
• Exchanging best practices from existing STEM programs
• Developing, promoting and implementing education-workforce partnerships
• Providing networking opportunities for STEM stakeholders

• Keynote address by a nationally eminent speaker
• Timely, applicable STEM learning presented in general and breakout sessions
• Exciting project demonstrations by our Generation STEM students
• Presentation of the annual Excellence in STEM Awards, The Stemmys

Worldwide IBM Service Jam
October 10-12, 2010
The Service Jam virtually gathers non-profit organizations, corporations, academic institutions, and government agencies to discuss how social innovation can help solve the world's largest problems. The event aims to generate the kind of ideas needed to redefine service and social innovation. Topics will include Quantum Leaps in Service: Groundbreaking innovations fueling the service movement; The Digital Revolution in Service: Transforming the service sector through technology; Empowering the Individual; Increasing Value and Impact of Service, and more.

Special guests include 41st President George H.W. Bush, US Senator Harris Wofford (PA), and IBM President and CEO Sam Palmisano.

IBM's Jam technology enables participants around the world to collaborate virtually, logging in to the Jam whenever it's most convenient at any time during this three-day event.

Register for Service Jam

USA Science & Engineering Festival
Festival Dates: October 10-24, 2010
Partner Spotlight: Department of Energy
The Department of Energy (DOE) will sponsor 11 highly informative, interactive exhibits in the Festival's Expo this October at the National Mall in Washington, DC. The exhibits explore how physicists are harnessing energy from the sun to make clean and renewable energy. See a car that can run on water and sunlight, and much more.

Students and teachers are encouraged to stop by the Department of Energy's Office of Science exhibit to see and use ScienceEducation.gov, a new search tool for browsing thousands of free and reliable science education resources.
http://www.usasciencefestival.org

Invent It. Build It.
Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL
Saturday, November 6th, 2010
10:30 AM - 4:00 PM
We are thrilled to announce Invent It. Build It. - a Society of Women Engineers, Girl Scouts, Design Squad collaborative event, sponsored by the ExxonMobil Foundation. This unprecedented partnership will combine the strengths of all three organizations to create a hands-on engineering experience for high school Girl Scouts at the SWE Annual Conference (WE10).
Register: http://aspire.swe.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=96&Itemid=141

Offer Computing Workshops and Camps: They Benefit Both Students and the Teachers Who Offer Them.
This printable PDF card (and its accompanying Web site) is a resource for computer science teachers that offers ideas for partnering, existing curriculum, and materials for implementation. The curriculum offered can be used in many settings other than camps or workshops and could be used by community partners as well. This is the time of year for informal education organizations and teachers to form partnerships and start planning workshops or camps for Summer 2011. http://www.ncwit.org/summercamps/

Dinosaur Train Geocaching
The Jim Henson Company has enlisted the help of PBS stations, museums, zoos, and aquariums nationwide to hide Dinosaur Train themed geocaches. Geocaching is a family friendly outdoor adventure that blends technology, gaming and environmental discovery. Each geocache features one of the dinosaurs found on the online Dinosaur Train Field Guide and contains educational information related to that dinosaur.

With the help of a GPS enabled device, each geocache will lead you to a safe, easy-to-access location. Visit www.geocaching.com and use keywords: PBS; Dinosaur Train; or station call letters to access an up-to-date list of Dinosaur Train geocache locations. Can't find a Dinosaur Train geocache in your viewing area? Stay tuned as we update the Dinosaur Train Geocaching Web page with instructions on how to make and hide your own Dinosaur Train geocache. http://www.pbs.org/parents/dinosaurtrain/geocachingchallenge/

Women with Disabilities in Science Radio Series Available Online and on Free CD
Northeast Public Radio's Access to Advancement series about the opportunities for, and achievements of, women with disabilities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), is now available online and on free CDs in time for National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October. Part 1 of the series provides five fascinating stories that describe the latest practices, programs, and tools for supporting students with disabilities in their pursuit of STEM careers. Part 2 tells the compelling stories of five successful women with disabilities who are studying or working in STEM fields. Listen online at www.womeninscience.org and request a free CD.

New Digital Library Offers Informal Learning Fun in Science and Math
The University of California, Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) today announced the launch of howtosmile.org, an online collection of thousands of hands-on interactive science and math activities dedicated to making learning exciting and engaging for everyone. Howtosmile.org activities take many forms, from downloadable lesson plans, to field trip activities, how-to videos and online interactive games, like one that allows learners to do virtual surgery. All activities are freely accessible, and never require a registration or subscription.

Funding Opportunities for Gender Equity from the Myra Sadker Foundation
Applications for the Myra Sadker Foundation 2010 funding awards are now available. The Foundation sponsors four funding programs to promote gender equity:

• undergraduate scholarships
• doctoral dissertation awards
• teacher grants for classroom projects
• grants for student projects.

NGCP Program Directory - Register your Program Today!
The online Program Directory lists organizations and programs that focus on motivating girls to pursue STEM careers. The purpose of the directory is to help organizations and individuals network, share resources, and collaborate on STEM-related projects for girls. When you sign up for the Program Directory you will enter your program description, resources available within your organization, program and/or organizational needs, and contact information.
Program Directory

International Visitors Experience "A New Beginning: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education" Across the United States
A new initiative is bringing 25 science teachers from other countries to the United States for an International Visitor Leadership Program called "A New Beginning: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education," September 27 through October 15. The teachers will examine the building blocks of STEM education at primary and secondary schools in seven cities across the United States.

Read more about this initiative and the International Visitor Leadership Program.

American Association of University Women (AAUW) members across the country are serving as Regional Liaisons for the National Girls Collaborative Project. These Regional Liaisons help the people involved in the NGCP to make connections - to one another, to resources on gender equity, and to AAUW.

AWE is the Assessing Women and Men in Engineering Project, which provides exportable assessment instruments, literature resources, and methodologies for Women in Engineering and similar programs. AWE is developing resources for use by K-12 STEM programs as part of NGCP services.