NEW ORLEANS — Dr. Calvin Mackie, a New Orleans native whose post-Hurricane Katrina experience helped shape a national focus on STEM education and community resilience, is among the voices featured in new documentaries marking the storm’s 20th anniversary on August 29, 2025. The films revisit not only the devastation of Katrina, but the long and unfinished work of recovery that followed.
A former Tulane University engineering professor, Mackie later founded STEM NOLA and STEM Global Action, initiatives rooted in expanding access to science, technology, engineering and math opportunities in underserved communities. His story is presented alongside others who did not just survive the storm, but went on to help rebuild and reimagine their communities.
Mackie Appears in Katrina Documentaries
Dr. Mackie appears in the following three documentaries released in connection with the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina:
- Katrina: Come Hell and High Water (2025, Netflix)
Directed by Spike Lee, the three-part docuseries examines the systemic and institutional failures surrounding Hurricane Katrina, including government response, infrastructure breakdowns, and the long-term consequences for New Orleans residents. - Hope in High Water: A People’s Recovery (2025, Peacock)
Hosted by MSNBC correspondent Trymaine Lee, the feature-length documentary focuses on community leaders and advocates involved in post-Katrina recovery efforts, highlighting grassroots responses and equity-centered rebuilding initiatives. - Hurricane Katrina: Who Gets to Move On? (2025, Britannica Education)
This short educational documentary explores disparities in disaster recovery and displacement, using individual case studies to examine who was able to return and rebuild after the storm, and who was not.
“Very few people understand Katrina—it wasn’t just one disaster. It was many,” said Dr. Mackie.
“We need to ask: Who truly gets to recover? And how do we ensure justice is built into every step of that process?”
From Disaster to Movement: Dr. Mackie’s Role in Recovery
In the wake of Katrina, Dr. Mackie was appointed by Governor Kathleen Blanco to the Louisiana Recovery Authority, where he fought to ensure equity and accountability in the state’s rebuilding strategy. As a displaced professor and engineer, he turned his garage into a neighborhood learning lab—offering science experiments for children whose education had been upended.
That post-Katrina work later evolved into STEM NOLA, an education nonprofit Mackie founded after the storm, and its national expansion platform, STEM Global Action. According to the organization, the programs grew out of the informal science sessions Mackie began in his neighborhood as families worked to stabilize their lives and return to school after widespread displacement.
Building Futures Through STEM
Founded in 2013, STEM NOLA is a New Orleans-based nonprofit that uses a community-based, scalable model to deliver culturally relevant, high-impact STEM education to K–12 students. Through its national expansion platform, STEM Global Action, the organization is working to ensure every child has early and sustained access to STEM experiences that foster curiosity, confidence, connection, and critical thinking.
Since 2013, STEM NOLA | STEM Global Action has engaged more than 200,000 K-12th graders. In 2024 alone, STEM NOLA engaged over 41,000 participants across 2,400+ schools, with a demographic reach that includes 63% low-income households and over 41% girls.
According to the organization, key features of STEM NOLA | STEM Global Action include:
- Hands-on, state-of-the-art STEM programming rooted in real-world applications.
- A focus on economic and workforce development, helping build a pipeline of skilled talent to drive innovation and growth.
- Commitment to equity and inclusion, breaking down barriers for students of color and girls in STEM fields.
- Events held at major venues such as Yankee Stadium, Caesars Superdome, and the Michelle and Barack Obama Sports Complex, drawing thousands of families.
Mackie said the work remains rooted in lessons from Katrina’s aftermath. “Our vision is simple but bold,” says Dr. Mackie. “We want to see a million kids engaged in STEM every Saturday. It’s not just education—it’s liberation, it’s empowerment, and it’s the future of our economy.”
The documentaries place that vision within a broader examination of how individual leaders and community-based initiatives emerged in response to gaps left by institutional recovery efforts after Katrina.
STEM NOLA has received national recognition, including the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM)—the highest honor for STEM mentoring in the United States.
