The White House To Show Film By Babson Filmmaker-In-Residence Mazzio
The White House screen the Underwater Dreams documentary on April 7 for an audience including local students from the area. The screening is part of the larger “Let Everyone Dream” campaign to expand STEM opportunities. A multi-sector coalition is launching a more than $90 million “Let Everyone Dream” campaign to expand STEM opportunities. Building on the documentary Underwater Dreams (by Babson filmmaker-in-residence, Mary Mazzio), which depicts the unlikely and inspiring story of a group of under-resourced Hispanic high school students taking on a MIT team in an underwater robotics competition, the “Let Everyone Dream” coalition will focus on getting more under-represented students inspired to succeed in STEM subjects. The coalition launches with over $90 million in supporting commitments, including:
Babson Filmmaker-In-Residence Mary Mazzio
- Youth and family focused media campaign: Televisa, a Mexican multimedia company, will invest $4 million into national television campaign to raise the visibility of Latinas in STEM, and American media company EPIX will invest $4 million to support distribution of the Underwater Dreams documentary to students and families. In addition, as part of the National Robotics Week in April, the White House screen the Underwater Dreams documentary on April 7 for an audience including local students from the area and from the Society for Hispanic Professionals Engineers (SHPE). SHPE will organize an additional 150 screenings for students across the country.
- Expanding access for under-represented students: 3M will commit $15 million to STEM programs for women and underserved populations; Motorola Solutions Foundation will commit $4 million for innovative hands-on STEM programming for underserved students; and Rockwell Automation and the i.am.angel foundation will support more FIRST robotics teams in under-represented areas. FIRST is also committing resources to substantially increase the number of girls, minorities, and underrepresented youth that have access to its programs and support the formation of new teams from communities that serve underrepresented youth.
- Strengthened connections with higher education: Building on its $25.5 million commitment at the College Opportunity Day of Action, CUNY is announcing a $10 million commitment to support internship and STEM career-readiness programs for first-generation college students. MIT, in order to ensure that more underrepresented STEM students have access, is increasing the financial aid it will provide to students next year by $8.4 million. Wellesley College is committing $20 million to support women in STEM from pre-college to graduate training.