Building a Bridge to STEM for Girls: The Formula for Success
A Conversation Between Christopher Skroupa, Skytop Editor-in Chief and Nikole Collins-Puri, CEO of Techbridge Girls / November 9th, 2021
Nikole Collins-Puri is a social justice visionary, strategist, advocate and mentor who has committed her life to unleashing the potential of untapped communities. She is the CEO of Techbridge Girls, a national nonprofit organization that is reengineering the way STEM education is taught and experienced by Black, Indigenous and all girls of color, empowering them to pursue STEM careers and achieve economic mobility and financial security as adults. Nikole is a master collaborator who is able to leverage her rich professional experiences in tech, philanthropy and education to bring diverse groups of stakeholders together to urge social change in our communities. As explained in her recent TED Talk on reimagining the STEM revolution for every girl, she’s committed to removing barriers and increasing access and opportunities for all those who are often left behind but essential to the success and growth of our society.
Prior to Techbridge Girls, Nikole worked at AT&T where she spearheaded their diversity and inclusion efforts, at the College Board where she advised states on their college completion strategy for Black and Latinx students, and at the Women’s Foundation of California where she advanced women’s economic security by supporting and awarding grants to visionary grassroots organizations.
Nikole is a National Urban Fellow that holds a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College, City University of New York, and a B.A. from the University of South Florida. When not championing equity in STEM Education and empowering girls, Nikole enjoys working out, dancing and singing with her six-year old son, Xavier and enjoying downtime with her husband.
Christopher Skroupa: The work you are doing at Techbridge Girls is needed, and I applaud you for having the vision to expand this program. How does this relate to your journey? What brought you to Techbridge Girls?
Nikole Collins-Puri: Techbridge Girls was the perfect storm uniting my passion, experience and the portfolio of my work at the intersection of business purpose and social purpose. My career aspirations have walked beside me as a partner in my journey, allowing me to dig into my childhood experience, and giving me insights needed in projecting my drive for success and recognition. I want to get the attention of those who can help me help Black girls with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) skills. Knowing what I know, from the mind’s eye of my childhood, helps me to inspire leaders to take a good look at our Techbridge girls and what they offer. You would see what I see. They are brilliant, bold, innovative and unstoppable.
Childhood often lays the grid for your future. I was raised by a single mother who believed that education was a pathway to greater opportunities and the confidence to realize one’s potential. I was taught to dream.There were no limitations on my dreaming. Even when I was younger, even in the midst of my circumstances throughout my life. For example, I was the only Black girl from elementary to high school. And so the same goes for the majority of my career. We didn’t have a lot of money and my surroundings never let me forget what we didn’t have.
However, I came to believe that there were no limits to what I could dream, and in turn built the skills to put that to the test. When I was little, I wanted to be the President of the United States. I considered that the President was powerful. He (and one day she) could change the circumstances of girls who looked like me. Because these girls may not have had the same opportunities because of their specific circumstance, I wanted to serve as someone who could open doors for them.
Access matters. Access to education, healthcare, living wages, nutrition, mentoring, friends and supporters at work. From my young eyes I could see how access to all this is a game changer.
Christopher: Tell us about your professional experiences
Nikole: I spent ten years in the tech industry working on the next generation of high-speed internet to leading diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Following this, I spent another decade working at the state and federal level to change education policy for youth who are marginalized, and ultimately oversaw a $6M philanthropic portfolio dedicated to granting grassroots organizations the resources needed to advance the economic security of women and families in California.
Fast forward to now, and this is the work that we do at Techbridge Girls.
Our girls are not the issue. They are capable, ready, and willing. It is the ecosystem and/or the circumstances around them that prevents their path to persist in this field.
Christopher: You have great support from a host of high-powered companies, for instance, Chevron, PwC, Samsung, and more. May you share details on how they are helping you achieve your goals?
Nikole: We believe our significant and long-standing support with our industry partners is beyond financial. We pride ourselves in building partnerships with like-minded companies that are trying to use their platform and power to the shared goal to ensure no girl is left out or behind in the STEM revolution.
Our partnerships may start as a financial contribution or volunteer opportunity for employees. However, it quickly evolves into bringing the strengths of two organizations together to move the collective agenda forward for our girls in STEM. This looks like Techbridge Girls being advisors for the company’s CSR efforts, training STEM professionals to be prepared and effective as they volunteer out in the community, to industry partners providing their expertise, products, and networks to advance the Techbridge Girls mission further.
We also have executives from companies as National Board members (Facebook, Underwriters Laboratories, Chevron, Intellectual Ventures, Box.com, etc.) or advisors that provide us strategic thought partnership around our digitization strategy (DocuSign). We also collaborate with our industry partners in thought leadership. We may co-write blogs, present at conferences about our partnership, sponsor research, and convene like-minded organizations to ensure that we understand the power of our collective work in bringing about systemic change.
Christopher: Let’s discuss the scope of services offered to young African-American women with math and engineering minds. What motivates them into STEM-related careers? What keeps them with you?
Nikole: Techbridge Girls (TBG) recognizes institutions do not adequately prepare nor create access to high-quality STEM learning and career paths that center Black, Indigenous and all girls of color as well as gender-expansive youth. TBG is focused on one thing – re-engineering STEM education, so girls (4th-12th grade) from marginalized communities are inspired and prepared to persist toward their STEM aspirations. We equip and galvanize out-of-school time (OST) educators and STEM professionals with the equity training and curricula that empower them to act as catalysts for our girls.
For over twenty years, TBG has developed a curriculum that speaks to the social, emotional, cultural, and environmental experiences, needs, and realities of our youth.
We take account of the whole girl understanding and celebrating her various identities and circumstances that impact her life and then design our STEM programming accordingly. Our secret is that we keep the voice of our girls at the center of our programming so it is relevant and reflective of their experiences. It celebrates the uniqueness of our girls’ identities and how it has transformed the STEM field, and impacted our culture and society.
Based on our annual evaluation during COVID-19, Techbridge Girls recognizes that, to succeed in STEM settings, students need to enjoy learning and have the right resources and conditions to support them.
Approximately three-quarters of TBG girls said that TBG@Home (virtual program) was fun (78%) and would recommend the program to a friend (72%). Another sign of student enjoyment is the extent to which they talk about what they are learning with others. Approximately two-thirds of respondents said they talk about what they are learning in TBG@Home with their family once a week or more (64%). TBG strives to foster learning environments in which youth feel they belong and are valued. Approximately three-quarters of respondents shared that they can be who they are (77%) in TBG@Home and feel appreciated by the adults in the program (74%).
This performance speaks to their needs and we are proud of it.
Christopher: How do you see large public companies playing a role in the education of your girls? Would companies consider an ROTC-type of arrangement as gaining a competitive edge in talent recruitment and retention?
Nikole: Public companies own a role to support the next generation workforce by: (1) investing in organizations that are supporting girls and the communities that are often left out of the opportunity; (2) using their power and platform to influence social and system change that are preventing girls STEM persistence; (3) nurture your own soil so that when girls make it to the workforce, they feel a sense of belonging, retained, valued, thriving and are leading in the organization; (4) creating opportunities to expose girls to careers (bringing their work to community-centered facilities), providing opportunities for youth to build their social capital and network with STEM professionals.
Companies are leveraging multiple opportunities to create a pipeline of talent from post-secondary into the workforce. However, I also think that it is time to broaden our recruitment and retention efforts. Building pipeline at the high-school level with internships, creating or partnering with vocational schools or community colleges around credentialing opportunities for youth that would be attractive for leading companies or the industry.
We value the shifting of mindsets, resources, and behaviors (said and unsaid) around the value of top-tiered schooling vs. experience and/or non-four year degree credentials. These are all opportunities that will broaden the scope of talent and increase the level of diversity in the STEM workforce.
Christopher: Tell us about a success story. And, from this story, what are the numbers like? How many girls do you serve, and how do you serve them?
Nikole: Aileen Iniguez participated in the Techbridge Girls program throughout middle school in our Oakland, CA, after-school program. Aileen was introduced to Techbridge Girls because she was excited about the free slice of pizza we gave to anyone who showed up. However, she did not know that a slice of pizza would lead to a life with greater possibilities.
She stayed connected with Techbridge Girls and the role models she met through high school and college. In May 2017, Aileen graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Applied Mathematics. The spark that was created in combination with the ongoing support from Techbridge Girls allowed her to achieve her aspirations of a STEM career.
Aileen now works for a leading STEM corporation (a Techbridge Girls partner) in their global engineering department as an IT Business Analyst making almost six figures a year. She travels the world for fun and now lives in Houston, TX because the company relocated her to pursue a new opportunity.
Our programs:
Techbridge Girls offers five programs that our educator partners deliver:
Ignite (3rd to 8th) – sparks girls’ curiosity in STEM by providing a fun introduction to a wide range of STEM experiences that will excite girls’* to continue their interest and exploration
Inspire (3rd to 5th) – encourages girls to explore a wide range of hands-on STEM activities that allows her to relate STEM concepts to the world around her.
ChangeMakers (6th to 8th) – builds girls’ STEM identity and sense of belonging, so they persist in their STEM journey.
STEM Events (6th to 8th) – rallies volunteers to encourage girls STEM interest and explore STEM enrichment and career pathways during a girl-only STEM event.
Pathways to Persistence (9th to 12th) is a community for TBG Alumni to tap into a national network, access resources to pursue their STEM interests, and build their social capital to navigate their STEM aspirations.
Long-term impact: According to a longitudinal study conducted with the Oakland, CA Unified School District, Techbridge Girls were more likely to:
score higher on the CST Algebra II and CST Biology exams
enroll in AP Calculus and have a higher average grade in AP Calculus
have a higher rate of graduation
earn a college STEM degree (twice the national average)
Our Reach
Projected to serve 6,000 BIPOC girls this 2021-22 program year
Projected to serve 120 educators across 20+ States in 2021-22 program year
90% of girls live in Title 1 School-districts (low-income)
1.09M served (includes our acquisition of Expanding Your Horizon Network)
Our Annual Impact
82% liked/loved TBG programming
100% educators increased knowledge of strategies to engage BIPOC girls
90% of educators increased their skill delivering equitable STEM
8800 OST STEM learning hours provided to girls
375 hours of training offered to educators
Christopher: What do you consider a commitment to diversity? How to get buy-in from leadership to move away from the trap of a good faith effort?
Nikole: Diversity is just the first step. Diversity can be sliced in many different ways which can often be used to not do the real work that it takes to create an environment where all employees can bring their whole self and thrive. Where I look for commitment is in the work done around equity, inclusion, and belonging.
I am extremely hopeful that the next generation workforce will demand nothing less than the expectation of an organizational culture that reflects diversity, acts inclusive, creates a sense of belonging and is equitable, which will drive leaders and corporations to create environments that will ultimately recruit and retain the best talent.
The future competitiveness, success and longevity of a corporation rides on the ability to achieve a culture where all employees can thrive and that alone will impact every aspect of the organization which should motivate all leaders to buy-in to the necessity of a diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging mandate for their companies. For over twenty-years, studies have clearly articulated the business case of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging on business success and competitiveness. And, with the new realities of COVID-19, many individuals are reflecting and evaluating companies with even more scrutiny.
The strongest companies will ultimately be the ones that look at their employees beyond just providing a paycheck. But, a company that looks at all employees holistically creates cultures and environments where work is fulfilling, individuals are valued, and diverse (especially racial and gender) representation is reflected in the leadership and board. There is a strong sense of belonging no matter your background will be the strongest standing.
Christopher: My concern is that after all the work and accomplishments achieved that the workplace disappoints because of the challenges of seeking and securing support in male-dominated companies. How is this addressed?
Nikole: Inequity is perpetuated by a white-male dominant culture that we have all institutionalized as the norm or standard of the way it is to be. It is people in power reflecting and questioning those norms and standards, seeing how it’s working for those who don’t “fit” in the original standard, and being courageous enough to change behaviors and paradigms. And, that may be stepping back, pulling up and/or advocating for something that feels different from what has been considered the standard culture or ideology.
These challenges in our workplace were not created yesterday. This work is a journey not a destination. So, in order to address the disconnect of what we accomplish as an organization and the disappointment we often hear our girls experience when they make it to the workforce, it is the tireless fight that must continue to be intentional and front and center to see progress.
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