NEW ORLEANS – This week, Dr. Calvin Mackie launched STEM Global Action, a campaign and network of affiliates he said will pursue the advancement of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education for children, parents and communities. SGA hopes to promote the benefits of STEM education and provide STEM learning opportunities to K-12 students in low-income and communities of color.
In 2013, Mackie founded STEM NOLA, a New Orleans-based nonprofit that has worked to promote STEM education locally. STEM NOLA says it has impacted more than 70,000 students, 17,000 families and 2,150 schools in 47 states and five other countries.
“We have achieved successful results, but I believe more must be done,” said Mackie, who holds Bachelor of Science degrees in mathematics and mechanical engineering from Morehouse College, as well as a Masters and Ph.D. from Georgia Tech. “We are creating STEM Global Action as a vehicle to expand our work. Corporate, community, education and government leaders have witnessed the success of our community-based programming and are asking that we expand to other parts of the country, and even other nations around the world.”
Mackie has earned support from Entergy, Boeing, Ochsner Health System and Chevron. In April, STEM NOLA was awarded a $1.25 million dollar grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, a portion of which will go toward transforming a New Orleans East building donated by Ochsner into the first STEM NOLA Innovation center.
“We thank our supporters who have made our work possible and look forward to their continued contributions to this vital cause,” said Mackie, who is also a former tenured professor of engineering at Tulane University. “Our SGA website at www.stemglobalaction.com is a hub for our own activities and also a resource for every individual, organization, government agency and others seeking to expand STEM education. It’s where you come to learn more about the benefits of STEM and how these skills can change your life, and the lives of those in your community.”
