Maker Corps Engages Thousands of Youth in Activities That Inspire Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Oakland, CA, June 11, 2013: The Maker Education Initiative (Maker Ed) will announce its first successful year of Maker Corps at the Clinton Global Initiative in Chicago, a gathering that includes NGO Leaders, CEOs, STEM Educators and top government officials. Maker Corps was developed as a CGI America commitment one year ago in an effort to boost the US Economy by creating jobs that bring making activities to new communities, especially girls and underrepresented minorities. More than 100 Maker Corps members were recruited and trained in the spring and will begin their summer experiences in 34 agencies across 19 states this week. Corps members will engage thousands of kids in camps, museums, libraries, and schools. Maker Ed greatly surpassed its original goal of partnering with 20 agencies in 2013.
The mission of Maker Ed is to create more opportunities for young people to make, and, by making, build confidence, foster creativity, and spark interest in science, technology, engineering, math, the arts—and learning as a whole. Maker Ed plays a national leadership role in developing a maker network of institutions, youth serving organizations, statewide afterschool networks, corporations, foundations, and makers seeking to accelerate and deepen the maker movement.
Maker Ed was created by Dale Dougherty, CEO of Maker Media and founder of Maker Faire, as the non-profit, educational arm of the maker movement. Dale states, “The biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity for the Maker Movement is to transform education. One way that the Maker Education Initiative will approach this is by working to help existing organizations, such as libraries, to build the capacity to engage and develop young makers. Empowering makers of all ages to play an active role in introducing students, and educators, to making will be a key component of these efforts.”
Maker Corps is made possible by generous support from Cognizant, Google for Entrepreneurs, and Intel. Google for Entrepreneurs joined the Maker Corps commitment this year. “Google for Entrepreneurs is incredibly excited to partner with the Maker Education Initiative to help kids across the country build and make,” said John Lyman, Entrepreneurship Manager at Google. “We’re looking forward to helping communities of makers grow and can’t wait to see what they create.”
Cognizant is a pioneering company engaged in the maker movement and will support six Maker Corps host sites to help corps members develop problem-solving skills, while gaining experience serving as leaders in diverse communities. Cognizant made Maker Corps possible at the New York Hall of Science, New York, NY; Newark Museum, Newark, NJ; Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA; Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA; Chicago Children’s Museum, Chicago, IL; and Mt. Elliott Makerspace, Detroit, MI.
Intel is a founding sponsor of Maker Ed and supports a cross section of programs including Maker Corps at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) in Portland, OR, “Open Make” programs at museums, and recently Education Day for 2072 kids and 520 educators at the Bay Area Maker Faire.
The Maker Movement has the attention of President Obama. To kick off his Educate To Innovate campaign to improve STEM education in 2011, he expressed: “I want us all to think about new and creative ways to engage young people in science and engineering, whether it’s science festivals, robotics competitions, fairs that encourage young people to create and build and invent—to be makers of things, not just consumers of things.” At this year’s White House Science Fair, the White House announced Maker Ed’s summer campaign to give many more students the ability to be “makers.”
Under the guidance of new Executive Director Paloma Garcia-Lopez, Maker Ed plans to expand its programming to include an online project library, recommendations of best practices, program models to engage low-income children in making, and maker clubs in hundreds of schools nationwide. Paloma expresses, “Young makers exemplify creativity and adaptability, two characteristics essential for the next generation of the American workforce. It’s our job to promote the maker-mindset in schools, and grow more makers, more mentors, and more spaces! This is exciting and time sensitive work.”
This week, Maker Ed will return to the national stage with President Clinton to help transform STEM education in the United States. As part of the STEM Education Working Group, Maker Ed will focus on developing strategies for attracting and retaining excellent teachers, increasing participation of girls and other underrepresented groups, expanding afterschool STEM programs, and promoting skilled volunteering and mentoring among STEM professionals. To learn more about Maker Ed’s commitment to STEM education at the Clinton Global Initiative America, click www.cgiamerica.org/c/?id=760694.
About CGI America
The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. Established in June 2011 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative America (CGI America) addresses economic recovery in the United States. CGI America brings together leaders in business, government, and civil society to generate and implement commitments to create jobs, stimulate economic growth, foster innovation, and support workforce development in the United States. Since its first meeting, CGI America participants have made more than 200 commitments valued at $13.4 billion when fully funded and implemented. To learn more, visit cgiamerica.org. CGI also convenes an Annual Meeting, which brings together global leaders to take action and create positive social change, CGI University (CGI U), which brings together undergraduate and graduate students to address pressing challenges in their community or around the world, and, this year, CGI Latin America, which will bring together Latin American leaders to identify, harness, and strengthen ways to improve the livelihoods of people in Latin America and around the world. For more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.
About Google for Entrepreneurs
Google for Entrepreneurs empowers entrepreneurs around the world through programs, partnerships and Google products. With over 50 programs in 110 countries, the team seeks to grow entrepreneurial communities and equip entrepreneurs with skills and resources to pursue their big ideas. To learn about the programs, or grow your own skills through free online courses, visit Google.com/entrepreneurs or on Google+ at Google.com/+GoogleForEntrepreneurs.
About Cognizant
Cognizant is a global leader in business and technology services that help clients bring the future of work to life—today—in a business environment that is being transformed by a new generation of highly distributed and virtualized business models; cloud and mobile technologies, and born-digital workers and consumers.
About Intel
Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products, and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Founded in 1968 to build semiconductor memory products, Intel introduced the world’s first microprocessor in 1971.
Full Press release pdf link here.
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