Did you know that New Jersey has 1.4 STEM jobs for every one unemployed person?* The STEM Advocacy Coalition (SAC), which addresses New Jersey’s growing skills gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) industries, was created in partnership with Dale Anglin, Senior Program Officer, Victoria Foundation; Ross Danis, President, Newark Trust for Education; Catherine “Kit” Nugent, Director of External Engagement, Citizen Schools New York-New Jersey; and Sarah Keh, Program Officer, Prudential Foundation. The Launch Committee is comprised of representatives from the Mayor’s office, Newark Public Schools, Newark Workforce Alliance, Urban League, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Schools Who Can, Students 2 Science, Newark Museum, Liberty Science Center, NPower, GlassRoots, PSE&G, and Panasonic among others.

SAC’s mission is to develop Newark's future STEM workforce by closing education, access and opportunity gaps by utilizing cross-sector collaborations between STEM industries, institutions of higher education, school districts, and workforce development agencies to align STEM education with New Jersey’s projected economic growth and global leadership. The overarching goals of SAC in formation

• Align STEM education with training programs and with necessary job skills.
• Explore and scaffold existing mentorship programs to opportunities in apprenticeships, internships, job-shadowing, and more.
• Create a pipeline for talent recruitment and professional development.
• Advocate for mutual policy positions which champion education, equity, and workforce readiness.
• Develop “real time” communications and marketing materials, which feature collaborative STEM Newark “good news”, highlighting programs and best practices for reaching across sectors, agencies, and partnerships.

To date, SAC has had three launch committee meetings in order to collect information, share ideas and identify resources. This organization hopes to galvanize educational institutions, community-based organizations, businesses, and parents to inspire and train Newark's young workforce to become the nation's next innovators in science, engineering, and technology.

Listed below are the panelists that met on June 16th to address the need for alignment of STEM education to workforce readiness job skills in STEM.

• Kendall Ademu-John HR Specialist, Diversity Outreach & Talent Acquisition, PSE&G
• Stephen Cafiero Group Manager EEO/AA Diversity & Recruiting, Panasonic
• Sally Nadler Manager, Workforce Development, PSE&G
• Evo Popoff Chief Innovation Officer and an Assistant Commissioner, NJDOE
• Jennifer L. Stegers Accounting Manager, NJ Chamber of Commerce Foundation

For more information contact: Barbara Glassman, Managing Director of External Engagement at Citizen Schools New York-New Jersey at barbaraglassman@citizenschools.org

The SAC is a work project of Kechia Gay, STEM VISTA. Citizen Schools appreciates Kechia’s leadership and support of this effort.

*Source: Change The Equation’s Vital Signs