This week, Maker Ed is thrilled to announce our support for the newly launched Nation of Makers organization. The Nation of Makers initiative was started in 2014 by President Obama, and works to increase “opportunities for students to learn about STEM through making, expand the resources available for maker entrepreneurs, and foster the development of advanced manufacturing in the U.S.”
With Obama’s presidential term soon coming to an end in 2017, a group of makers, educators, and makerspace organizers have come together to carry on this work in the form of an independent 501c(3) nonprofit organization. The new organization will “continue to grow the coalition of diverse organizations that are working to support the maker community … serving and representing the full variety of spaces, events, and institutions serving makers, including non-profit organizations, museums, libraries, science centers, educational institutions, foundations and for-profit companies.”
As an organization, Maker Ed stands with the Nation of Makers, and is thrilled to share this letter of support for the new nonprofit:
November 15, 2016
Dear Nation of Makers,
The Maker Education Initiative (Maker Ed) is a nonprofit organization that envisions every young person having equitable access to engaging learning experiences that collectively develop their skills, knowledge, and ways of thinking, and that recognize and value their ability to influence their world. We believe in the value of maker education as a learner-driven, open-ended, interactive learning approach that can enable students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds to develop new perspectives, a belief in their own abilities, and a passion for learning.
Through our partnerships with organizations like AmeriCorps VISTA, museums, libraries, afterschool service providers, and schools, we provide training, resources, and a community of support to educators and institutions that support them in creating the engaging, inclusive, and motivating learning experiences that maker education provides. We strive to make it possible for every educator in America—with a particular focus on those in high-needs communities—to incorporate maker education into their learning environments in an easily accessible, highly-adaptable way.
We are excited by the efforts of the Nation of Makers to continue to build upon the grass-roots efforts of the maker community and President Obama’s Nation of Makers initiative, as an independent non-profit, and the ways in which it will collectively help maker organizations by encouraging connections, broadly sharing resources, facilitating funding opportunities, engaging in policy development, and advocating for the Maker Movement. Maker Ed is pleased to support the Nation of Makers in its efforts to work towards a thriving, connected and inclusive maker-centered community of practice that will further the ability of students, educators, adults, and families to engage in making and sharing.
We are committed to ensuring that maker organizations amplify the passion, innovation, creativity, and diversity of the Maker community, and maximize both local and global impact.
Sincerely,
Warren (Trey) C. Lathe, III
Executive Director
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