Luminus Named Howard County Changemaker Challenge Finalist
The Situation:
- English language learners in Howard County, a proxy for immigrant students in the school system, which does not track immigration status of its students, have the lowest 4- and 5-year graduation rates of any group of students by a substantial margin.
- Analysis by the Maryland Center on Economic Policy shows that more than half of Latina immigrant women are in low wage work.
- Jobs in STEM are expected to experience high growth, along with healthcare jobs according to the American Immigration Council, which reports that 24% of Maryland STEM workers are immigrants.
- Nationally, women are half the college-educated workforce, but just over a third of the science and engineering workforce.
- Black, Latina, and Indigenous women represent less than 10% of the STEM workforce.
The Solution:
Our Changemaker innovation is to empower up to 10 young immigrant women or non-binary people in Howard County Public Schools who are specifically seeking to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers through comprehensive immigration representation and mentorship.
We recognize that both the immigration and education journeys take years to complete, so we are committed to program participants for the long-term through our immigration and mentorship supports. This approach begins to build a solid pipeline for the STEM workforce among underrepresented communities, building a virtuous cycle of increased participation in that well-paid field.
The Challenge:
All of the finalists will be pitching our solutions in front of a live and virtual audience May 7th from 6:00-8:00pm. We need your votes to win grant funding for our solution. Please mark your calendar and plan to vote for Luminus.
We are deeply grateful to the Howard County Sponsors: Horizon Foundation, United Way of Central Maryland, Community Foundation of Howard County, the Women’s Giving Circle, and County Executive Dr. Calvin Ball, for providing grant funding, a finalist stipend, and coaching and mentoring to all the finalists.