STEM Academy of North Carolina - Seed Money

Hello, we are the STEM Mentorship Academy of North Carolina (https://www.stemmentorshipacademy.org/)! We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to mentor K-12 students in the stimulating field of STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. This organization was founded by Zane Dash, a sophomore student at Harvard College, and Valentina Morales,  a sophomore C.H. Morrison Scholar at UNC. The STEM Academy is entirely run by college and high school students around the country.

Since last fall, we have recruited 270+ mentors of college and high school age that have partnered with 700+ mentees of middle and elementary school age in all things STEM. We place a particular emphasis on creating mentoring opportunities for children in disadvantaged areas throughout the state.

Mentors help with Science Olympiad, Science Fair, tutoring in STEM coursework, and problem-based learning projects, as well as more niche interests like Sphero robots, Rube Goldberg machines, Project Lead The Way, and the Future City projects. Our mentors attend 21+ different high schools and colleges and have worked with students from 19+ different elementary and middle schools across North Carolina (list on our website! - https://www.stemacademyofnc.com)

We are hoping to obtain funding for mentor background checks, resources and scholarships for mentees, purchasing organization t-shirts, obtaining mentor enrichment opportunities, and paying for needed documentation, among other uses. We are also looking to complete tasks that require legal and accountancy help that we cannot currently afford. 

Thus, our itemized expenses will include mentor background checks for county school systems, scholarships and resources for mentees, legal/accountancy help, paying the costs of nonprofit registration and other documentation, and advertising our services across the state of North Carolina. We need funds for background checks, legal/accountancy help, and nonprofit registration ASAP!

We would greatly appreciate your support; we are happy to list donors as Founding Donors on our website, with recognition to last into the coming years! 

PROTECTING YOUR DONATION: This money will be used carefully, with each dollar tracked: we plan to inform donors individually of how their specific donations are spent, sending them verified receipts for each use.

Your donations will be utilized for the development of our program, mentoring opportunities, and most importantly, our young mentees.

Thank you for your consideration, and please do share this fundraiser with as many people you could– it would be deeply appreciated. We have a goal to help children develop the world in a better way, and hope to have your help and support along the way!