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STEM Education

H.B. Fuller Announces STEM Education and Youth Leadership Grants

Posted 01/10/2023 by Kirsten Stone, President, H.B. Fuller Company Foundation

Recently, the H.B. Fuller Company Foundation awarded grants to 11 nonprofits serving youth in the Twin Cities. These grants support STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and youth leadership development in our headquarters community.

STEM Education grants support initiatives that provide added exposure to science, technology, engineering and math concepts and experiences, sparking the interest of our next generation.

  • Breakthrough Twin Cities

    Breakthrough Twin Cities envisions a future where all students have the resources to reach their full potential, where every classroom is led by an engaging teacher committed to each student’s success, and where society as a whole realizes the ultimate social and economic benefits of fully investing in its youth.

    BTC provides hands-on STEM instruction and enrichment experiences over a five-and-a-half-week summer program and once monthly school year program that prepares underrepresented BIPOC students for college and career success. Their unique students-teaching-students model creates a vibrant learning community that supports students and fills gaps in our current inequitable education system, while also building a cadre of future STEM educators who can change the system from the ground up.

  • Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library
    Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library: The H.B. Fuller Company Foundation supports Createch Studio & Labs program, which provides access to technology learning for teenagers through the experiential learning theory of HOMAGO: Hang Out, Mess Around, Geek Out, based on Mimi Ito's research on how youth learn in new and social media environments. In this affirming environment, teens increase confidence, communication skills, and unlock their creativity by pursuing their interests with trusted adult mentors. Fundamentally, Createch is a responsive teen-centric space, focused on championing teens' strengths by providing a safe, low-stakes atmosphere (not driven by curriculum or testing) for exploration and self-discovery.
  • Genesys Works - Twin Cities

    Genesys Works provides pathways to success for high school students in underserved communities through skills training, meaningful work experiences, and impactful relationships.

    A grant from H.B. Fuller will support their Summer Training Program, which includes impactful and informational time with external professionals and representatives for students to learn more about STEM opportunities in colleges, workforce training institutions, and the professional world. Students hear from these local professionals through panels, presentations, and informational interviews. The events help expose students to the relevancy and usability of the skills they are learning during summer training, regardless of if they are placed in internships in the fall.

  • Ka Joog

    Ka Joog's mission is to create a better world by providing community-based, culturally specific programs and services to youth and their families through education, the arts, and economic development.

    The Takeoff is a free after-school 4-H program that exposes Somali middle school and high school students to Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) education in a culturally inclusive environment. Most youth participants in The Takeoff program are first-generation Somali Americans from low-income households who participate because they are falling behind in school. Others want to improve their skills in STEAM and take advantage of project-based activities to deepen their learning. All youth benefit from the culturally and linguistically attuned design of their services and attend several times a week.

  • Osiris Organization
    Osiris Organization provides access to technology, digital literacy, and career training opportunities - pathways that prepare Twin Cities youth and adults from all backgrounds for successful careers in the field of technology. A grant from H.B. Fuller Company Foundation will expand STEM-focused projects and programs working to accelerate Saint Paul’s economy by connecting Saint Paul residents of color and women to wealth building job opportunities and investing in tech-based education for Saint Paul’s future workforce: youth of color and girls.
  • University of Minnesota Foundation – Bell Museum
    Bell Museum aims to ignite curiosity and wonder, explore our connections to nature and the universe, and create a better future for our evolving world. Through a grant from the H.B. Fuller Company Foundation, the Bell Museum will distribute 10,000 Science & Nature Activity Kits serving 20,000 children in grades K-5. Kits will be distributed through trusted community, social service, and education partners with a focus on ensuring kits reach BIPOC children and families. In addition, kits will provide access to the Bell Museum, helping to bring the inclusion gap for underrepresented families and ignite curiosity and wonder in STEM.
  • Urban Ventures
    Urban Ventures provides intensive, intentional hands-on learning experiences in STEAM education through equipment and software that are conducive to real life skills. A grant will provide science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) education to students primarily in the Central and Phillips neighborhoods in Minneapolis. UV opened an Innovation Center (IC) in 2021 that serves as a Career Technical Education (CTE) track. The IC empowers students to explore CTE through STEAM labs. The IC offers a more relaxed space that isn't tied to a school time period and where students have time to explore and innovate.
Youth Leadership grants fund programs that help young people become successful, productive adults and the leaders of tomorrow.
  • Cookie Cart

    Cookie Cart teaches life, leadership, and employment skills to teens of color through on-the-job and classroom experiences in nonprofit bakeries.

    Developing leadership skills is an important focus area in Cookie Cart’s work with youth. Exploration of what leadership is and hands-on opportunities to practice it are woven into all aspects of their programming. Youth participate in a series of five training sessions as interns and begin to practice their skills as crew members. Initial training and practice focus on the core components of peer leadership.

  • Dream Of Wild Health

    The mission of Dream of Wild Health is to restore health and well-being in the Native community by recovering knowledge of and access to healthy Indigenous foods, medicines, and lifeways.

    Their recent grant will provide leadership development opportunities for at-risk Native youth in the Twin Cities area. The Dream of Wild Health Native Youth Education & Leadership Program is a multi-year program that is based on Native American culture. Through informal mentorship, formal apprenticeships, cultural lessons such as language, ceremony, and games, and hands-on experience farming and in nature, their programs help youth build confidence, job skills, leadership ability, and community. Youth have the opportunity to participate for several years as they grow through the program.

  • H2O for Life

    H2O for Life develops educated global citizens through service-learning focused on the topic of the global water crisis. K-12 students identify a local water problem and implement an action plan while partnering with a school in a developing country that desperately needs water. Students take action to raise funds to support implementation of water, sanitation, and hygiene education for their global partner school.

    The recent award is in support of the Leadership Through Service-Learning Program which is focused on preparing students to become leaders through the development of transferable skills while working in water resource conservation, protection, and water accessibility. These young people make a real-world impact today and are ready for tomorrow’s challenges.

  • Multiplying Good

    Multiplying Good's mission is to power others to have maximum impact on the things they care about most. Their programs and partnerships drive Americans to change their communities and the world.

    The H.B. Fuller Company Foundation has funded Students In Action (SIA) in the Twin Cities, allowing multiple schools or youth-serving organizations in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area access to programming. SIA is a unique youth service, leadership and recognition program that combines immersive training, opportunities for engagement, and a prestigious awards platform that honors achievement. Students participating in SIA are trained throughout the year following evidence-based curriculum to support deep levels of learning through two different, yet complementary platforms and a final unifying event.

The foundation awarded a total of $300,000 in support of racial equity, STEM, and youth leadership programming in its headquarters community in Minnesota in 2022. An additional $150,000 was provided to international nonprofit organizations providing equitable education and leadership opportunities for women and young people.

Since 1986, H.B. Fuller has been supporting communities around the world where our employees live and work through the H.B. Fuller Company Foundation. Each year, H.B. Fuller awards more than $1.3 million in grants to support STEM education, youth leadership development, racial equity, and other causes selected by employees. H.B. Fuller is proud to partner with these organizations to support the next generation of innovators and leaders and to create a more just society.

Grantmaking is just one-way H.B. Fuller supports the communities where our employees live and work. Learn more about how we give back by following #HBFullerCares on social media and by visiting www.hbfuller.com/community.

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