LEARNThe STEAM Exploration Initiative
Youth in under-resourced Los Angeles communities often have limited access to quality STEAM education and enrichment. Dominguez Dream provides hands-on STEAM learning, career exploration, and family engagement for PreK-12 students. This grant will help us strengthen materials while developing new programming and expand to more schools and community sites, giving more youth the tools, skills, and support to explore their interests and build brighter futures in STEAM related careers.
What is the primary issue area that your application will impact?
K-12 STEAM education
In which areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)
In what stage of innovation is this project, program, or initiative?
Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)
What is your understanding of the issue that you are seeking to address?
In Los Angeles, too many youth from under-resourced neighborhoods attend schools that don’t provide consistent access to hands-on STEAM learning or career focused education. These opportunity gaps start early and often widen due to lack of resources, limited exposure to STEAM professionals who reflect their identities, and minimal family or community supports. Without early engagement, youth are less likely to see STEAM as relevant or achievable, and less likely to develop the confidence and skills they need to pursue those pathways.
Describe the project, program, or initiative this grant will support to address the issue.
The STEAM Exploration Initiative introduces PreK–12 youth to hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math through real-world projects that reflect their lived experiences.
Youth will take part in design challenges, use digital tools, and connect with STEAM professionals who reflect their backgrounds. They will also engage with custom-built activities and learning materials developed by our team to support exploration, creativity, and skill-building. Programs will take place in school, afterschool, and in community-based settings, using flexible programing that is customizable to the specific needs of each unique community.
We will also provide families with take-home kits and host interactive Family STEAM Nights to reinforce learning and support engagement, all this will be made available in accessible language to accommodate each individual family’s needs. Instructors will receive training, coaching, and ready-to-use toolkits to ensure high-quality, all-encompassing facilitation.
Describe how Los Angeles County will be different if your work is successful.
Our goal is to ensure more youth gain the confidence, skills, and curiosity to see STEAM as part of their future. Through this initiative, more families will be engaged in learning, and our partner schools and community sites will have tested, effective strategies for building a stronger pipeline of STEAM-ready youth. Over time, this work helps more young people from under-resourced communities in Los Angeles build skills that lead to real job opportunities, strengthening the local economy and creating more pathways into high-demand careers throughout Los Angeles.
Approximately how many people will be impacted by this project, program, or initiative?
Direct Impact: 2,000
Indirect Impact: 6,000