Eric Schwarz is the Co-Founder and CEO of Citizen Schools and the Executive Chairman of US2020 "US2020 has a really mind boggling and awesome goal which is by 2020 to deploy 1 million new STEM mentors in American schools. I think all of us can remember a moment when someone loved us enough and cared about us enough to actually help point us to something that got us engaged in what we're actually now doing. There's a whole bunch of evidence that injecting more mentoring into schools will create moments of inspiration that will actually catapult a whole new generation of kids into science and tech careers."- Todd Park, Chief Technology Officer of the United States of America, at the White House "Champions of Change" event.

Yesterday on July 31, the White House hosted an event featuring Tech Inclusion initiatives including US2020. The event celebrated and honored local change-agents who are making moments of wonder and discovery happen for kids – specifically those from communities underrepresented in careers that rely on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills.

Leaders across the country are working to help create these incredible moments every day. Many, including US2020 and its Founding Partners, including Salesforce, the latest tech company to join our effort, are working hard to connect and spark young minds through mentoring programs. At the White House event yesterday Nate Hurst, a leader at US2020 partner HP, said his company has looked to spark innovation in America through its people ever since legendary founders Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett started the company in a Silicon Valley garage in 1939. Hurst said US2020 is helping HP advance this goal by connecting its engineers to high-quality mentoring opportunities near where they work and live.

Earlier this week, Tom Kalil, the White House’s deputy director of science and technology policy, said that organizations like US2020 and Citizen Schools, which is incubating the US2020 effort, act as the "connective tissue" between companies and schools to help make mentoring more effective at ensuring a qualified future work force. At US2020, we are dedicated to doing our part. In September 2013 we will launch a City Competition focused on finding ways to dramatically scale STEM mentoring in up to five American communities and develop solutions to the STEM crisis in America. Find out more about how you can get involved and encourage your city to apply by visiting: http://us2020.org/city-competition/.