The Northrop Grumman Foundation is partnering with Cricket Media and IEEE to impact the next generation of STEM professionals through TryEngineering Together, an eMentoring program. Starting in September 2019 and continuing throughout the academic year, up to 125  employees at Northrop Grumman will remotely mentor 6th-8th graders in five high-poverty communities across the United States.  

 

“With over 50% of students losing interest in STEM by middle school, we’re excited to have Northrop Grumman employees using eMentoring to connect their STEM experts directly to the students in under-resourced communities who typically do not have access to engineering role models.  Bringing role models to these students in a way that is both convenient for the busy Northrop Grumman STEM professionals and impactful for students is a win-win for everyone involved,” says Laura Woodside, VP Education Products at Cricket Media. Northrop Grumman Foundation is investing in a program that provides a unique solution to the lack of STEM mentorship in under-resourced communities. Employees appreciate a volunteer option to mentor young students that doesn’t require traveling to a school or coordinating schedules with a teacher.  ”I like that I am able to make an impactful and positive difference in the life of a child in one of our communities from anywhere at any time using the portal,” said Stephanie Fitzsimmons an eMentor and K-12 STEM Education Programs Manager, Northrop Grumman. 

 

How does the eMentoring work? Each Northrop Grumman volunteer is matched 1:1 with a student. Through the moderated platform, students select and share STEM articles, and then eMentors and students exchange written communication about the articles.  

 “Companies need a diverse and skilled talent pool” states Jamie Moesch, Managing Director of IEEE Educational Activities, “This is a great long term solution to help make an impact on the future of your workforce and contribute to your community at the same time”. 

 

“Science, Technology, Engineering and Math are going to be critical to our future,” said Stephen Welby, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of IEEE. “It’s enormously important that we attract capable and creative young people to these professions. Today, I’m concerned that many young people don’t believe that they can play an important personal role in shaping our future as STEM professionals. The world needs STEM talent, but today there remains large communities that are underrepresented in the engineering and technical professions. We all need to do more to reach out to these young people and to convince them that careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math will be attractive, rewarding and fun. Northrop Grumman’s commitment to TryEngineerng Together is an encouraging and positive step forward to help address this critical challenge.”

 

Northrop Grumman volunteers can support this program in just 2-3 hours a month. With the ability to access the platform anywhere around the world, helping students is easy and convenient.  

 

To learn more about the benefits of TryEngineering and eMentoring, please visit the TryEngineering Together website and download the eBook: Introducing eMentoring.

For more information about Northrop Grumman Corporation Foundation, please visit go to: https://www.northropgrumman.com/CorporateResponsibility/CorporateCitizenship/Philanthropy/Pages/Foundation.aspx