Boys & Girls Clubs and Thermo Fisher Scientific fuel the future of STEM

Every student has the potential to become an innovator in STEM.

The challenge: As the demand for STEM talent grows remarkably in the United States, access to high-quality STEM education lags.

• Industry and STEM leaders foresee a skills crisis in the labor market, according to the National Science Foundation.
• This presents a risk to society's ability to keep up with technological advances and address crucial global challenges.

What you need to know: Boys & Girls Clubs of America and global life sciences leader Thermo Fisher Scientific are bridging the gap by connecting Club youth with high-quality learning experiences that can inspire them to pursue and thrive in STEM careers.

• Through hands-on activities and exposure to STEM professionals, this partnership helps fuel students' passion for STEM topics and the confidence to envision themselves as future innovators.

Why it's important: This partnership fosters a future workforce that more fully represents the world around us, driving innovation that improves lives while building more resilient communities.

The background: Thermo Fisher Scientific has been a national partner of Boys & Girls Clubs of America since 2016.

• This partnership focuses on the expansion of Boys & Girls Clubs' DIY STEM Program, the launch of STEM learning and training experiences for Club staff and the passionate engagement of employee volunteers to spark youth interest in STEM fields.
• In 2024, Thermo Fisher Scientific colleagues volunteered thousands of hours with youth at Boys and Girls Clubs across the U.S.

🔬There's also a clear demand for this partnership among Club youth.

• Four of five Club tweens are curious about science, computers and technology.
• More than half of Club youth know the steps they need to take if they want to be in a science-related career, thanks to partnerships like Thermo Fisher Scientific.

An example: This month, 60 Boston-area youth from Waltham Boys & Girls Club teamed up with senior leaders from Thermo Fisher Scientific for an exciting Motorized Car Entrepreneur Challenge.

• The challenge was a hands-on competition bringing teams of Club members and Thermo Fisher Scientific volunteers together to design, pitch, build and race motorized cars.
• Teams collaborated to solve engineering problems, pitch their designs to investor judges and race their creations — all while focusing on innovation, creativity and teamwork.

The impact: The challenge allowed youth from Waltham Boys & Girls Club to work side by side with Thermo Fisher Scientific leaders and get a firsthand look at what it means to think like engineers, creators and collaborators.

• "We want to make sure that every young person knows they can see themselves in STEM," says Erica Young, Executive Director of the Waltham Club. "When they're doing something this fun and associating it with a career or real-world problems, it helps them conceptualize what that could look like as an adult — and why education is so important now."
• That inspiration came through loud and clear. "STEM impacted my life because I like to build stuff and it helped me talk more and participate more and find my voice," said Akari, a Waltham Club member. "It was just, like, my happy place when I was doing all those activities."

• "The grown-ups are helping us… telling us how to do this, how to do that," added Jarissa, another Waltham Club Member. "If we make a mistake, it's okay — we just try again."

Here's what else: April is National Volunteer Month, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America proudly acknowledges Thermo Fisher Scientific's volunteers as playing a vital role in uplifting young individuals and fortifying communities. 🚀

• "If we're going to have some of the best engineers, scientists and technologists in our workforce, we have to help develop them," says Lisa P. Britt, Thermo Fisher Scientific Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer and executive champion for the company's global month of service. "Our partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America enables us to extend our reach, particularly to students in communities that are underserved, and to create incredible opportunities to get them excited about STEM education and the paths it offers them."

The takeaway: Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Thermo Fisher Scientific are leading the way to create the next generation of STEM leaders.

• By providing opportunities for young people to learn from and connect with professionals who are invested in their future, this partnership nurtures a 21st-century workforce that will solve the world's most complex problems.

Learn more.