Heven Adugna aims high. She aspires to become a pediatrician, and as a seventh-grade student, she knows that science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) will help her reach that goal.
However, women—and particularly Black, Indigenous, and all girls of color—are largely underrepresented in STEM fields and often marginalized from taking part in STEM education at an early age. In 2019-2020, women of color in the U.S. earned 15% of bachelor’s degrees across all STEM fields, with Black women accounting for only 5% of that total.
For girls like Heven, this presents an extra challenge when pursuing success in STEM employment, higher education, and careers.
Re-engineering STEM for girls of color
That’s where Techbridge Girls comes in. Their specialized training programs draw on girls’ interests and experiences, creating access to high-quality STEM learning that empowers and inspires students from all backgrounds to achieve their full potential.
Leading fearlessly
Josetta Jones, chief diversity and inclusion officer at Chevron, has volunteered with Techbridge Girls for almost two decades. She received a degree in chemical engineering prior to attending law school and also served as a member of the Techbridge Girls Regional Advisory Council of California.
“This program is inspiring young girls, giving them hope and opportunities to see women like them leading fearlessly in STEM fields,” Josetta said.
Investing in tomorrow’s talent
Since those early days of partnership in 2008, Chevron has invested more than $3 million in support of Techbridge Girls’ programming expansion and success.
Why it matters
Quality education is critical to help achieve social equality, advance racial equity and enable human progress. In 2020, Chevron pledged $15 million to support Black employees and the Black community across four strategic pillars:
- Education
- Job creation
- Talent and leadership development
- Community and small business partnerships
From 2020-2022, we invested $3 million in K-12 education programs to continue our ongoing commitment to racial equity via our work with Techbridge Girls and other partner organizations.
For more information, please visit chevron.com.
Source: Chevron
